West Manggarai — Efforts to continue to encourage protection for Indonesian citizens have indeed become one of the focuses of Indonesia as chair in the implementation of the 2023 ASEAN Summit.
The President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo emphasized Indonesia’s commitment to continue to strengthen the protection of Indonesian Citizens (WNI).
Not only commitment, but this is also accompanied by real work, which is most recently, the Government of Indonesia succeeded in evacuating Indonesian citizens from Sudan.
“In the midst of various difficulties there, the government has succeeded in evacuating Indonesian citizens from Sudan,” he said Monday (8/5)
Then, President Jokowi also regarding the evacuation has ensured that the Indonesian citizens are now in a safe location.
“As of today, the number of Indonesian citizens who have been evacuated is 969 people, 936 have returned home and 33 are already in safe locations outside Sudan,” said the President.
Previously, the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Menlu RI), Retno Marsudi, revealed that the entire evacuation of Indonesian citizens from Sudan had been planned very carefully.
Even the evacuation process was carried out with a silent but fast operation.
All of these careful preparations are because the Government of Indonesia prioritizes the safety of Indonesian citizens.
This is because so far the situation in Sudan itself is too dynamic and seriously threatens the safety of Indonesian citizens.
“Why do we always choose a quiet operation, because everything concerns the safety and security of Indonesian citizens who we will evacuate because the local situation is always very dynamic, very fluid and can threaten the safety of Indonesian citizens,” explained the Foreign Minister.
Meanwhile, at the 29th ASEAN Socio-Cultural Pillar Ministerial Council Meeting it was agreed that there were four commitments which would later be discussed at the 2023 ASEAN Summit.
The Coordinating Minister for PMK, Muhadjir Effendy explained that the four commitments included one health, ASEAN village network, protection of migrant workers in crisis situations and migrant workers, especially migrant fishermen.
According to him, the agreement of the four commitments will make the ASEAN region more inclusive.
“These four commitment documents are an effort to advance an inclusive ASEAN,” said the Coordinating Minister for PMK.
Furthermore, Coordinating Minister Muhadjir himself also said that the ASEAN Ministers and Secretary General had confirmed their commitment to establish cooperation and continue to realize the Socio-Cultural Pillar priorities under Indonesian Leadership.
He also invited all parties to be able to continue to strengthen cooperation.
“Let’s strengthen our cooperation in promoting ASEAN’s relevance as the epicenter of growth in the region and its surroundings,” concluded Muhadjir Effendy.