REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Foreign Affairs Ministry will record Indonesian citizens (WNI) in Greece to be immediately repatriated to their homeland. Foreign Affairs Minister Retno LP Marsudi said the Foreign Affairs Ministry would help repatriate Indonesian citizens, especially victims of human trafficking.
"On the same principle, yes. So, there are a lot of deliveries that are not made in accordance with the procedure. In fact, a lot of our brothers who are victims of trafficking," said Foreign Affairs Minister Retno, in the Vice President’s office, Jakarta, on Monday, July 13.
Furthermore, Retno said, the process of repatriation of citizens in Greece was still going to wait for the next process. Nevertheless, the government said it will provide protection and assistance to the citizens.
"So we cannot necessarily count how many citizens there and how many citizens to be repatriated. We have to see if they work well, shipped well, and had contract work properly, it is no reason for them to be repatriated," said Retno.
Previously, the Foreign Affairs Ministry conveyed that most of the citizens who work in Greece began to come out of the country. They returned to Indonesia due to loss of jobs following the economic crisis that made Greece into bankruptcy.
Based on the data owned by Foreign Affairs Ministry, a total of 1,046 Indonesian citizens were living and working in Greece. Most of the Indonesians are already out of Greece.
With the Greek economy slumped, Spokesman of Foreign Affairs Ministry Arrmanatha Nasir claimed that there were many Indonesians will lose jobs and were forced to return to Indonesia. Nevertheless, he believed the impact of the Greek crisis would not shake the Indonesia's domestic economy.
Greece went bankrupt after failing to pay a debt of 1.6 billion euros, or around Rp 23.6 trillion to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).