REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno LP Marsudi, has urged ministries and agencies to improve coordination and cooperation in providing protection to Indonesian citizens abroad.
"During the nation's 70th Independence Day, we should tighten our cooperation and coordination as one nation to protect Indonesian citizens," Marsudi said on Tuesday.
According to the Foreign Minister, the evacuation of Indonesian citizens from Nepal and Yemen cannot be separated from stepped up coordination among other ministries and agencies.
"Coordination among ministries and agencies is still difficult. But when we evacuated Indonesian citizens in Yemen and Nepal, that was an example of good cooperation between the foreign ministry and other ministries/agencies," Marsudi remarked.
The minister pointed out that the evacuation was the largest citizen evacuation that had been undertaken by the Indonesian government.
Marsudi stated that the evacuation was a form of protection for Indonesian citizens abroad, and was mandated under the constitution and restated during the Nawa Cita (nine principles) program.
Earlier, the Foreign Ministry's directorate of legal aid and protection for Indonesian nationals overseas had said on Tuesday that in 2015 till date, the government had secured the release of 12 Indonesian citizens from death sentences in Saudi Arabia.
With the recent release, the number of Indonesians freed from death row in Saudi Arabia since 2011 has reached 68.
According to ministry records, there are 24 Indonesian citizens currently at risk of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, whose legal processes are ongoing. Of the total, 12 people face murder charges, nine are facing adultery charges and three are facing black magic charges.
The ministry said that recently, the Indonesian government had managed to secure the release of Rika Mustikawati, an Indonesian citizen from Tanah Sareal, Bogor. In a trial on May 15, 2012, a general court in Bisha City, Saudi Arabia, had sentenced Rika to death for allegedly performing witchcraft on her female employer.
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