Foreign students at UGM want to leave Indonesia
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Seventy-six foreign students studying at Gadjah Mada University want to leave the country before tomorrow.
The university's assistant rector, Joedoro Soedarsono, told The Jakarta Post that the 76 students were concerned for their safety and feared a further escalation in violence tomorrow. He did not say whether they had already departed.
He admitted that the university cannot guarantee their safety, and said that it would be difficult for the university to ask them to stay after their respective governments had recommended they leave.
"We can't make any guarantees for their safety. Can the security apparatus give such a guarantee? I don't know," he remarked.
The 76 students who have asked to leave are 47 Australians, 13 Japanese, 11 Americans, two Germans, and one each from Malaysia, Korea, and the Philippines.
Gadjah Mada University has a 291-strong contingent of foreign students. The largest number of students, 57, are Australian. Thirty seven are Japanese.
According to Joedoro, initially students departed through Bali, but now many were traveling to Singapore and other nearby locations, just to get out of the country.
Major airports, especially in Jakarta, have seen a mass exodus of foreigners following the widespread looting which hit the capital on Thursday.
Despite the mass departures, United Nations agencies in Jakarta said yesterday they were maintaining a full complement of staff in Jakarta. However as a precautionary move, family members of international staff have been relocated to Singapore.
Australia
In a related development, three chartered flights arranged by the Australian government touched down in Sydney yesterday afternoon carrying 204 passengers fleeing Jakarta.
A press statement from the Australian Embassy in Jakarta quoted Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as saying that over a period of two days 758 people had flown from Jakarta to Sydney using the specially chartered flights.
"Demand slowed for seats on the third aircraft and the current assessment is that normal scheduled flights can accommodate the numbers of Australians wishing to leave the country. On this basis there will be no further charter flights at this stage," he said.
Meanwhile the Philippines have readied air force C-130 planes to fly Filipinos out of Indonesia in the case of public airports closing due to an escalation of violence.
Associated Press quoted Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon as saying in Manila yesterday that the Philippines had asked permission from Indonesian authorities to land Philippine military planes at an Indonesian air base in a worst-case scenario in which commercial airlines are prevented from flying.
Siazon said the flights would be available only "if the situation gets bad", adding that present conditions did not warrant such a move.
"There is no recommendation for mandatory departure yet", Siazon said from the Philippine Embassy.
Siazon said the embassy had also opened its doors to Filipinos afraid to stay in their homes or offices, but so far no one has taken up the offer.
Japan dispatched the first of two air force transport planes to Singapore yesterday, in preparation for a possible evacuation operation in Indonesia.
The first C-130 Hercules transport plane left Komaki air base in central Japan bound for Paya Lebar air base in Singapore, a defense ministry spokesman said, as quoted by Reuters.
Top government spokesman Kanezo Muraoka said that four other transport planes would be sent later, but he did not say when.
The decision was made after Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, who flew back from the Birmingham Group of Eight (G8) nations' summit, finished discussing the Indonesian crisis with several cabinet ministers.
It is only the second time Japan has dispatched military planes overseas on a mission other than a training flight since the end of World War Two.
In July 1997, Japan sent three C-130 transport planes to Thailand to airlift nationals trapped in strife-torn Cambodia. The aircraft were later withdrawn because most Japanese used other means to flee Cambodia.
Each C-130 can hold about 80 people. If required, the planes would be used to shuttle Japanese to other nearby nations for commercial flights home.
Muraoka said that by tomorrow, 5,000 Japanese will have returned home from Indonesia on commercial flights. There are an estimated 20,000 Japanese citizens in Indonesia, including several thousand tourists.
He added that Japan is considering sending two coast guard patrol boats, possibly to Singapore, to help with any evacuation.
The boats, which can carry up to 500 people, could be used to take people from Indonesia to neighboring countries. One of the boats, which can carry two helicopters, is now in Okinawa and the other is steaming towards a rendezvous. "Japan is doing whatever it can to protect the lives of its citizens in Indonesia," Muraoka said.
Taiwan might soon send military transport planes and naval vessels to Indonesia to evacuate its citizens if violence worsens this week, officials said.
Foreign minister Jason Hu told the legislature that the final details of a possible evacuation plan are being decided. He urged Taiwanese business people to leave Indonesia with their families before tomorrow.
About 4,000 Taiwanese have returned home on scheduled or chartered flights following last week's riots.
Approximately 30,000 Taiwanese business people and their families live in Indonesia.
A chartered flight arranged by the Italian foreign ministry to assist Italians flee Indonesia left Jakarta on Sunday, RAI state television reported in Rome.
Dozens of Italians arrived at Jakarta airport hours ahead of the 105-seat flight to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
An estimated 140 Italians still remain in Jakarta, and 200 others, mainly missionaries, in other parts of the country. In addition to long term residents, about 350 Italian tourists are currently in Bali. (44/mds)