Indonesia Calls For Truce In Yemen

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi called on the warring parties in Yemen to impose a ceasefire  to give time for the evacuation of civilians out of Yemen.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press statement here on Sunday that the Indonesian government could use the truce to speedily evacuate its citizens (WNI) who were still staying in Yemen.

According to the foreign ministry, the security conditions in Yemen, particularly around the Aden and Sana'a cities are deteriorating. The armed clashes among the conflicting parties are escalating.

These conditions posed difficulties to the efforts to evacuate the Indonesian citizens there, thus forcing the team to follow special scenarios for the evacuation process. After all, the evacuation team has to carry out the evacuation on a fast, safe and efficient basis.

Regarding the latest conditions in Yemen, the Indonesian government expressed concern over the fall of victims again on the part of civilians. The Indonesian government calls on the warring parties to restrain and pay attention to civilians, both Yemeni and foreign citizens.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi welcomed 110 Indonesian citizens (WNI) who arrived at Soekarno-Hatta airport here on Sunday evening after being evacuated from Yemen.

According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry's press statement here on Sunday, the 100 WNIs arrived in the first batch out of the 622 WNIs who were successfully evacuated from Yemen to Jizan, Saudi Arabia several days ago.

The remaining WNIs will be picked up by an Air Force's plane in Jizan to be flown to Oman from where they will be flown by a commercial flight to Indonesia.

Since the evacuation process started in December 2014, a total of 792 Indonesian citizens have been evacuated from Yemen and up to now 590 WNIs have repatriated to Indonesia. The remaining 202 are taken to safer regions, namely Jizan, Saudi Arabia and Djibouti.

A number of Indonesian citizens are still accommodated in safe houses in Yemen, pending evacuation,namely 89 in Aden, 14 in Sana'a, 40 in Al Mukalla and 58 in Tareem. (WDY)