More foreign head for Singapore and Bangkok<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (Agencies): Hundreds of U.S. and Canadian nationals
\nwere flying out of Jakarta in the early hours of Saturday in the
\nfirst mass organized evacuation of foreigners.<\/p>\n
About 800 evacuees were headed for Singapore and Bangkok
\naboard two chartered Cathay Pacific Boeing 747s. The evacuation was
\nordered after Jakarta was rocked by several days of rioting,
\nlooting and burning.<\/p>\n
They included dependents of U.S. and Canadian embassy and
\ngovernment officials working in Jakarta, non-essential staff and
\nfamilies from the business community. Essential embassy staff were
\nremaining.<\/p>\n
U.S. ambassador J. Stapleton Roy said the evacuation had been
\nordered because the situation in Jakarta had \"rapidly deteriorated
\nover a two-day period\", Reuters reported.<\/p>\n
\"On Thursday, as the rioting and looting got worse, we
\nencountered a situation where the police were no longer able to
\nprovide any protection, where Americans were reporting that they
\nwere encountering dangerous situations, including in their
\nresidences,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government \"was no longer in a position to
\nguarantee the security of Americans, where we couldn't predict what
\nwas going to happen,\" he added. He said: \"We felt that the only
\nsafe course was to ask Americans to leave until the situation had
\nstabilized\".<\/p>\n
The evacuees were flown out of the civilian part of Jakarta's
\nHalim Perdanakusuma airbase. They had gathered at three points in
\nthe city and been driven in buses under police escort to the air
\nbase where they were processed through a hall normally used for
\nIndonesian Moslems making the pilgrimage to Mecca.<\/p>\n
About 2,300 Americans asked to be included in the evacuations,
\nleaving many stranded, though more flights were to follow,
\naccording to an employee of the U.S. Agency for International
\nDevelopment who was obliged to evacuate.<\/p>\n
Embassy officials said there would be more flights over the
\nweekend to evacuate those who were unable to get seats on the first
\ntwo flights and others who wanted to leave.<\/p>\n
Canadian Ambassador Gary Smith said priority had gone to
\nchildren, the elderly and the infirm.<\/p>\n
\"The situation is unpredictable at this time, and given the
\nevents of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, we thought it was safer
\nto recommend (the evacuation) at this time,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The evacuees had been given about 12 hours notice and were
\nallowed one bag each.<\/p>\n
\"The (U.S.) government said we should go, but we'll be back,\"
\nErnie Olson, a telephone company employee from Boston, said outside
\none assembly point at the ambassador's residence.<\/p>\n
Ken Tiemann, a 46-year-old scuba diving instructor from St
\nLouis, said he was going \"because all my customers are leaving\".<\/p>\n
\"I'm going to come back as soon as it all calms down,\" he
\nadded before taking the Bangkok flight.<\/p>\n
Pets were banned, and 30-year-old Holly Ferrette from New
\nJersey said leaving her terrier Indah, rescued from a dog pound two
\nyears ago, had been a wrench.<\/p>\n
\"The dog's staying with our guard. We left money with
\nIndonesian friends and they'll start processing papers to get her
\nout of the country if necessary,\" she added.<\/p>\n
She said she worked for the U.S. Agency for International
\nDevelopment (USAID) and she and her husband, Fernando Gonzalez, 35,
\nfrom Costa Rica, had had no option when told to leave.<\/p>\n
\"We'd rather stay and see how things go. It's hard leaving
\nbehind our Indonesian friends,\" she added.<\/p>\n
The scene was the same at the Soekarno-Hatta airport where
\nthousands of foreigners were making their own arrangement to leave
\nthe country.<\/p>\n
\"I'll go anywhere,\" said David Bradley of Sydney as he waited
\nat the ticket counter. \"Kids with sticks and rocks were jumping on
\nmy car demanding money. It was pretty harrowing.\"<\/p>\n
In Singapore, some of the Americans evacuated expressed relief
\nover their escape and regrets for those left behind.<\/p>\n
\"We made it alive out of Jakarta,\" Danielle Townshend, 16, a
\nU.S. citizen who has lived most of her life in the Indonesian
\ncapital, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n
\"On the way to the airport we saw tanks on every corner and
\nburned out buildings everywhere,\" said Danielle, who fled with her
\ntwo younger sisters. Their Indonesian mother wished to remain,
\nwhile their American father was traveling in Africa.<\/p>\n
\"We didn't want to leave Jakarta this way,\" said Bill Haddock,
\n49, of Dallas, who works for the Price Waterhouse accounting firm.
\n\"We left our belongings, pets, servants and friends. This hit
\nquick.\"<\/p>\n
\"I felt miserable leaving, just rotten,\" U.S. AID's Laura
\nBailey, 35, of Billings, Montana said. \"I have lots of friends
\nthere. You just know that everybody who's staying is in for a rough
\ntime.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/more-foreign-head-for-singapore-and-bangkok-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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