Foreign Ministry: Delegation Will Soon Travel to Indonesia to Ensure Asylum-Seekers' Safe Return
The Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday that a Lebanese delegation will travel to Indonesia soon in order to ensure the safe return of the survivors of last week's asylum-seekers ferry sinking.
Foreign Ministry General Secretary Ambassador Wafiq Ruhaimi said the delegation, headed by High Relief Commission chief Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Bashir, will travel to Indonesia within 24 hours to accompany the survivors on their trip back to Lebanon.
The delegation will also include a number of officials from the Foreign Ministry, a representative of the General Security, and a DNA specialists.
Speaking after a meeting at the Foreign Ministry on the boat sinking, Ruhaimi added: “Fifteen survivors have been identified, while three others are receiving treatment at hospital.”
Moreover, he explained that the High Relief Commission will provide airline tickets to all Lebanese in Indonesia who are seeking to return to their homeland.
They include 20 Lebanese, including six prisoners who were imprisoned by Indonesian authorities for violating their residency permits.
Furthermore, Ruhaimi revealed that the survivors of last week's ferry sinking have been placed in a safe location away from the people-smuggling mafia that led to their disaster.
They have been placed under the protection of Indonesian authorities and the International Immigration Organization in the city of Sukabumi, he added.
Lebanon has also requested that security around them be stepped up, he said without elaborating.
“The number of Lebanese on the ill-fated ferry is still unknown because several other asylum-seekers from different nationalities were also on board,” he explained.
The identities of the corpses that were recovered from the sea can only be discovered through DNA tests due to the decomposition they suffered from being in the water, stated Ruhaimi.
Thirty-three corpses from different nationalities have so far been recovered from the sea, he continued.
The Foreign Ministry meanwhile said in a separate statement that the names of the Lebanese survivors have been registered and their personal needs have are being attended to.
The Indonesian immigration ministry has also been contacted in order to speed up their return to Lebanon.
The High Relief Commission will work on returning them to Lebanon within the upcoming days, it said.
It also revealed that 18 Lebanese asylum-seekers were supposed to be on board the sunken ferry, but they encountered various obstacles that prevented them from traveling on the vessel.
These asylum-seekers have expressed their wish to return to Lebanon and they are currently residing in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.
Twenty-eight Lebanese asylum-seekers drowned in a boat sinking off Indonesia on Friday as they sought to sail to Australia.
Many more are still feared missing.
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry said there were 68 Lebanese, including children, on board the ill-fated vessel and that 18 survived the ordeal while at least 29 were still missing.
Most of them hail from Akkar where thousands of Syrians have sought refuge from the 30-month conflict that has wracked their country.
Media reports said that the asylum-seekers were the victims of people smugglers who prey on them and Syrian refugees seeking to better their lives.
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