Embassy Draws up Evacuation Plan for Indonesian Citizens in Sri Lanka

TheIndonesia.id - The Indonesian Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka, said it has prepared a contingency plan to assist more than 300 Indonesian citizens in the country if the current crisis gets worse.

In formulating the assistance and evacuation plan, the Embassy (KBRI) is closely coordinating with authorities in Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

“KBRI is always consulting with [Indonesian] Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Sri Lankan government,” Minister Counsellor at KBRI Colombo Heru Prayitno said on Friday, June 24, as reported by Antara.

However, KBRI has yet to announce mandatory evacuation orders, and in the meantime, it will continue to monitor the situation and maintain communication with all Indonesians who are still within Sri Lankan territory.

According to Prayitno, the monitoring and communication mechanisms are done through chat group as well as notice in the Embassy’s page.

For those who decide to self-evacuate and temporarily leave Sri Lanka during the crisis, KBRI said it will provide support and assistance. It also announced that, generally, Indonesian citizens in the country are still able to fulfill their basic needs in order to live properly.

“Based on data in May 2022, there are 310 Indonesians in Sri Lanka, and they are concentrated in Colombo, Galle, Kandy, and Nuwara Eliya,” Prayitno revealed.

Meanwhile, Indonesians who are married to Sri Lankan nationals have reportedly decided to stay in the country while trying to handle the crisis.

Lastly, KBRI in Colombo has also prepared and distributed basic needs, such as groceries, to several Indonesians as part of the contingency plan.

South Asian country Sri Lanka is currently in financial crisis, and its prime minister has announced that the country’s economy has “collapsed”.

Sri Lankans have been queuing outside the immigration office to try and get passports in a desperate attempt to flee the country while unrest is also inevitable as inflation soaring and basic necessities becoming scarce.

Neighbor country India has expressed their commitment to assist the economic recovery, and Sri Lankan authorities have also been looking for aids from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other countries.