EVACUATION PROCESS OF INDONESIAN CITIZENS IN EGYPT BEGINS by Fardah

     Jakarta, Feb 2, 2011  (ANTARA) - Some 455 Indonesian evacuees are expected to arrive at Soekarno-Hatta international airport Wednesday (Feb. 2) morning, as the first fleet of thousands of Indonesians to be evacuated from Egypt where around 300 people were killed in the political violence.
      The government has sent a special Garuda Indonesia flight (Boeing 747-400) to take them out of Egypt on Tuesday evening (Feb. 1) at around 10 pm Cairo time, the Indonesian foreign affairs ministry said in a press statement here late Tuesday .

     The decision to evacuate Indonesian citizens from Egypt was made in a cabinet meeting led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday (Jan 31) following the worsening of political and social unrest in Egypt where demonstrators demanded that President Hosni Mubarak step down.
      Confirming about the beginning of the evacuation process, the chief of the embassy`s citizens` protection unit, Colonel R Teguh Isgunanto, in Cairo, said that the embassy was ready to evacuate 455 Indonesians from Egypt on Tuesday evening.
     Teguh said women and children were prioritized during the first evacuation. The 455 evacuees had gathered at the Indonesian immigration consulate in Nasr city before leaving for Cairo airport.

He said the embassy would use small cars in transferring Indonesian citizen to the airport since the local government had banned all tourist buses to operate in the city.

According to data from Foreign Affairs Ministry there are 6,149 Indonesian living in Egypt consisting of 4,297 students and 1,002 workers, as well as Indonesian Embassy`s staff and their families.

Most of Indonesians in Egypt live quiet far from strategic places which had been the center of riots recently. However, they have set up communication networks in 20 post commands in the riot-turn Middle East nation.

Chairman of Indonesian Students` Union in Egypt Salahuddin Nurhalim said many of his members who were living outside Cairo found it hard to enter the city because several roads was still blocked.

He also said some students already stated their reluctance to leave Egypt because they were afraid they could no longer enter the country in the future.

For security reason, Indonesia`s foreign affairs ministry has urged Indonesian nationals in riot-torn Egypt to continuously communicate and coordinate with the Indonesian embassy in Cairo.

The Indonesian embassy`s address is 13 Aisah El Taimoria Street, Garden City, Cairo, Egypt; and phone numbers: +20227947200, +20227953877, +20233350627, +20237617681, the foreign ministry said here Tuesday in its press statement.

To find out about the situation and the condition of Indonesians in Egypt, the public could also contact the foreign ministry in Jakarta, at phone numbers: +6282112450500 (Mr Tatang Razak), +6281210157444 (Mr. Ronny P. Yuliantoro), +6285888271361 (Mr. Bambang), +6281325583226 (Mr. Masbukhin), the ministry announced.

The ministry also urged the Indonesians in Egypt to be watchful and avoid crowds and less safe areas.

The government has asked those intending to go to Egypt in the near future to reconsider their plans until the situation in the Middle East country is back to normal.

The Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) has set up a team from the Air Force`s Special Troops and mobilized five C-130 Hercules planes for the evacuation process, Air Commodore Bambang Soelistyo, deputy of the Air Force Chief of Staff`s operation assistant, said here Tuesday.

The team`s personnel comprised three groups, respectively a 15-member group of control command, a 42-member group of main team of evacuation and a 45-member group of ground handling.

"The whole personnel consist of Bravo-90 Detachment who have experiences in UN missions. Everyone is ready to leave. They are just waiting fro the instruction of the TNI headquarters," Bambang said.

The TNI Evacuation Team is headed by team commander Colonel Rolland D.G. Waha, and Bravo-9- Detachment by Lt. Col. M Juanda.

The five C-130 Hercules planes consist of three from Air Squadron 31 Wing I in Halim Perdanakusuma air force base, and two from Air Squadron 32 Wing II in Abdulrachman Saleh Malang air force base, he said.

The Indonesian Air Force on Monday (Jan 31) sent an advance team led by Deputy Air Force Chief Vice Marshal Soekirno, to Egypt as post commander of the task force of the evacuation of Indonesian nationals.

From the state secretariat building in Jakarta, Minister/State Secretary Sudi Silalahi has also confirmed about the beginning of the evacuation process.

"The process is still going on. The situation is still uncertain. So, it`s hard to imagine (the condition). However, we continue the process (of evacuation)," Silalahi told the press Tuesday (Feb. 1).

The uncertain situation similar to what had happened in Indonesia during the early reform era in 1998, was occurring in Egypt at present and the government was trying to carry out evacuation of its citizens, he said.

Upon their arrivals in Jakarta, the evacuees would be returned to their respective hometowns, according to Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare Agung Laksono.

"The important thing is that they are evacuated from there (Egypt) first, and then they will be returned to their hometowns, and if later they want to go back to Egypt, they can," Minister Laksono said.

A number of countries have begun evacuating their citizens and warned against visiting Egypt as bloody anti-government protests have dragged on for around 10 days.

More than 18,000 passengers converged on Cairo International Airport on Tuesday (Feb. 1), frantic for a way out. The Associated Press (AP) described that the scene downtown where anti-government protesters gathered, "was more organized than at the airport".

China planned to send at least four planes by Tuesday to fly back about 2,000 Chinese travelers stranded in Cairo.

The United Kingdom is sending charter aircraft to Egypt, according to BBC. Around 20,000 British tourists are Egypt, and another 10,000 Britons are thought to be living or working in the country.

The US State Department in Washington DC reported on Tuesday (Feb 1) that approximately 1,600 U.S citizens and their family members have been evacuated from Egypt in an operation that began on Monday, January 31.

Just under 400 passengers were flown to safe havens in Istanbul and Athens on February 1 aboard three U.S. Government-chartered planes. So far, more than 3,000 U.S. citizens have communicated a desire to be evacuated, the US authorities said.
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