17 RI students stay put in Iraq

17 RI students stay put in Iraq

JAKARTA: At least 17 of 34 Indonesian students evacuated from
Iraq to Syria recently have decided to return to Iraq at their
own risk, an official said Friday.

Director for Information and Media at the foreign ministry,
Wahid Supriyadi, said here Friday that his directorate had
reminded the students of the dangers they may encounter if they
stayed in Iraq.

The students, however, insisted on returning to Iraq and had
signed a statement saying that they went back to Iraq of their
own free will and would be responsible for their own decisions.

"They insisted on pursuing their studies in Iraq fearing that
if they drop out of school as classes at Damascus University in
Syria had already been going on for three months now," Supriyadi
said.

The students are studying at Baghdad University, Saddam
University, and Mustan Shiryah Language Institute.

Fourteen of the 34 students decided to continue their studies
at the Damascus University in Syria, whole three others have
decided to return to Indonesia.

There are approximately 50,000 Indonesian nationals in the
Middle East -- 33,000 in Kuwait, 6,000 in Jordan, 5,000 in
Bahrain, 4,000 in Saudi Arabia-Iraq border areas, and another
4,000 in Qatar. --Antara