Philippines Agrees to Evacuate 16 Indonesians from Marawi

Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi

Jakarta,6 Ramadan 1438/1 June 2017 (MINA) – The Philippines police and armed forces have approved the evacuation process of 16 Indonesians residing in Marawi City, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi was quoted by Antara News as stating at the presidential palace on Wednesday.

“The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) will offer a safe passage to the evacuation team,” she affirmed.

The AFP and PNP will also deploy troops along the evacuation route, as the Indonesian evacuation team has also requested for escort assistance on the route between Illigan and Marantau, which passes through the Marawi City.

The evacuation team comprises people from the Indonesian embassy and consulate as well as people from the international monitoring team. The evacuation will be carried out in two phases.

The first phase will take the Illigan-Marantau route and will head to the Cagayan de Oro Airport, while the second phase will take the Sultan Naga Dimuporo-Pagadian City-Iligan City route.

According to Marsudi, intensive communication has been established between the team and armed forces to carry out the evacuation process possibly on Thursday (June 1).

When questioned about the issue of an Indonesian dying in Marawi, she said it has yet to be confirmed by the Philippine authorities.

“We did receive such information. But again, whenever any information is received, we have to confirm it with the local authorities, which until now, we are still awaiting a confirmation,” she said.

According to the latest update confirmed by the Philippine authorities, 16 Indonesians who currently reside at two locations in Marawi City have been requesting for evacuation. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)