Foreign Minister Retno Asked Why Saudi Arabia Forbids Its Citizens to RI

Jakarta –

Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi open related sound Saudi Arabia which prohibits its citizens from entering the Republic of Indonesia. Retno said that her party had communicated with the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister regarding this matter.

“We have, so as soon as we received the information I immediately communicated, especially with the ambassador here, our ambassador is also tasked with contacting the authorities in Saudi and I also communicated with the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister and they promised to see,” said Retno told reporters at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Tuesday (31/5/2022).

Retno questioned Saudi Arabia on the basis of what made Indonesia on the list of countries prohibited from visiting. Retno thinks it doesn’t make sense when it comes to handling COVID-19. According to him, the handling of COVID in Indonesia is quite good compared to other countries.

“Because our question is of course what underlies the list. If the list is related to COVID-19, I think there are many countries that are not included in the list of 16 whose COVID-19 conditions are much worse than ours. Because we are actually one of the who are handling COVID-19 well,” he said.

Retno then mentioned the international forum that was held in Bali last week. According to him, this is proof that the handling of COVID-19 in Indonesia is good, because more than 7,000 participants attended the event.

“And this was proven when I received the Deputy Secretary General of the UN and also the president of the UN general assembly who was present at the Global Platform for Desaster Risk Reduction meeting, which was the UN meeting event that was hosted in Indonesia in Bali last week, where more than 7,000 registered participants, 79 % of them are present in person,” he said.

According to Retno, the event cannot be held if Indonesia’s conditions are below the UN standards. He said that the UN leadership also appreciated the handling of COVID in Indonesia.

“This is the largest event held in the transition period between pandemic and endemic and it is impossible to do if what Indonesia has achieved is below the standards they have set, this was recognized in the speech of the deputy secretary general of the UN, and also the president of the UN general assembly said that the management of Indonesia is related to The pandemic is very much appreciated, so that’s what I conveyed to the Saudis, so if you have concerns, please provide us with the data,” he said.

Retno said that Saudi Arabia had responded to what she said. According to him, the Saudis will look at the data in Indonesia.

“So far they will see and I said earlier that in early June there was a planned visit by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, if the plan is carried out, I will also use it to discuss the issue,” he said.

“Or if the planned visit is not carried out, the closest opportunity is that we will hold a meeting of the G20 Foreign Ministers in early July where the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia will also be present. So I will use the opportunity to discuss this issue,” continued Retno.

(eva/idn)

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