12 MER-C’s Medical Volunteers Enable to Exit from Gaza

sajadi - Wednesday, 15 May 2024 - 23:04 WIB

Wednesday, 15 May 2024 - 23:04 WIB

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Jakarta, MINA – The situation in the Gaza Strip is still not conducive, the Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C) Indonesia continues to monitor the condition of its volunteers who are still stuck in Rafah, South Gaza.

“We understand the anxiety experienced by the families of volunteers where currently they are stuck unable to leave and are currently still waiting for the progress of negotiations to open the crossing so that they can return to their homeland,” said Arief Rachman, Head of the Emergency Medical Team (EMT) MER- C during a press conference on Wednesday in Jakarta.

“In this case, we continue to coordinate well with EMTCC, WHO and other parties so that we can get immediate information which we can forward to ensure the safety of volunteers working in the field,” he said.

“We also conveyed the developments and situation that occurred very quickly to the family and other parties so that the information was clear, so that the family could also understand and comprehend what was happening,” he added.

Also Read: Prof. Amany Lubis Calls for Global Solidarity to Build Indonesia’s Maternity and Children’s Hospital in Gaza

He said that MER-C hopes that negotiations can be achieved and the borders are opened, so that volunteers can return to their homeland. If MER-C is achieved, it will certainly facilitate the repatriation process so that they can return immediately.

To ensure the safety of volunteers, MER-C also continues to report the Team’s location and movements to EMTCC and related parties to find out that this is not an enemy movement.

Arief emphasized that with the current conditions, moral support from both MER-C in Jakarta and moral support among themselves and moral support between foreign institutions would be very meaningful.

Currently, there are 12 MER-C volunteers in Gaza. On Monday, May 6 2024, the medical activities of MER-C volunteers were stopped due to the Israeli ground attack on Rafah. This also resulted in the movement in and out of Gaza for all EMT Teams under WHO being postponed, including the MER-C EMT Team. (T/RE1/P2)