216 Indonesians in 7 Immigrant Detention Centers in Malaysia Sent Home

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs repatriated 216 vulnerable Indonesians from seven immigration detention centers in Malaysia on June 10, 2024. These people are mostly mothers and their children, pregnant women, senior citizens, sick people and Indonesians who have been detained for more than 6 months.

The repatriation of Indonesian citizens was announced by Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia Hermono at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where the immigrants were flown back to Indonesia on commercial flights scheduled to land at Jakarta's Soekarno Hatta Airport and Medan's Kualanamu Airport.

The ministry's Directorate for the Protection of Indonesian Citizens and Indonesian Legal Entities (BHI) said in a statement that the repatriation flights were divided into five flight groups, three in Jakarta for 129 people and two in Medan for 87 people. Among them are 14 sick people requiring outpatient care, 19 minors and eight elderly people over the age of 60.

Some of the repatriated Indonesians said they had been working in Malaysia for decades and that this was the first time they had returned home with government assistance. They are very grateful and happy to be reunited with family members they have not seen for a long time.

"This accelerated repatriation program is the result of a bilateral cooperation between Indonesia and Malaysia to better protect Indonesian citizens," Ambassador Hermono said.

The repatriation process went smoothly. The Indonesian migrant workers will be temporarily accommodated in a number of places provided by the government before being returned to their respective hometowns.

TEMPO.CO

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