VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Puan Maharani has voiced her objection to the absence of the Palestinian issue in the Joint Statement of the Ninth G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20).

Responding to the joint statement adopted by speakers of parliaments from G20 member countries in New Delhi on Saturday, she pointed out that while it addressed "the war in Ukraine", it did not equally significant global issues such as Palestine.

Maharani said that she, along with her counterparts from Turkiye, China, South Africa, and Russia, had signed a joint reservation, expressing hope that the Palestinian issue would also be accommodated in the statement.

The Joint Statement (Point 20) states "Concerning the war in Ukraine, while recalling the discussion in Bali, we reiterated our national positions and resolutions adopted at the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly (A/RES/ES-11/1 and A/RES/ES-11/6) and underscored that all states must act in a manner consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter in its entirety."

"In line with the UN Charter, all states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state. The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible".

Maharani stated that the joint reservation was not aimed to dispute the Ukrainian issue. However, the absence of other crucial global issues, including the Palestinian one, created an imbalance in the joint statement.

In fact, the recent escalation in the Palestinian-Israeli war has killed and injured thousands of people on both sides. Therefore, the Palestinian issue also needs global attention, she emphasized.

At the Ninth G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit, Maharani was accompanied by Chairman of the DPR's Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Agency (BKSAP) Fadli Zon, and Indonesian Ambassador to India Ina Krisnamurthi.

Two BKSAP members, Charles Honoris and Irine Yosiana Roba Putri, as well as DPR Secretary General Indra Iskandar also accompanied her at the event.

The new armed conflict erupted once again following a surprise attack by Hamas on Israel in the early morning of October 7.

Prior to the assaults by Palestinian liberation fighters, Israel continued its closure of Gaza crossings.

Palestine's news agency WAFA reported on September 25 that the Israeli closure of Gaza crossings had worsened the living conditions of Palestinians in Gaza.

According to WAFA, the Palestinians had already suffered from the severe impacts of "more than 17 years of tight Israeli land, sea, and air blockades."

Al Jazeera quoted Hamas, which governs Gaza, as stating that its assault on Israel was "a response to the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and increased settler violence."

In response to the unprecedented surprise attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had declared war on Hamas and, according to Al Jazeera, pledged that the Israeli forces would "turn all Hamas hideouts into rubble."

Since then, the Israeli occupation forces have continued to bombard Gaza. As a result, since the start of the war, at least 2,215 Palestinian civilians, including 724 children, have been killed, while Israel has lost 1,300 citizens.

Israel has also implemented a collective punishment in its efforts to crush Hamas in the Gaza Strip by cutting off supplies of food, water, fuel, and electricity to the besieged enclave, which is home to some 2.3 million people.

In the midst of the Israeli preparation for a wide range of military operations in Gaza, pro-Palestinian rallies have broken out around the world, calling for an immediate end to the ongoing killings of Palestinians. (Antaranews)

VOI, Jakarta - As many as 35 Indonesian religious tourists in Israel will be returned home amid an escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry stated.

"There are 35 Indonesian citizens, who conducted religious tourism, and we will facilitate (their return) on October 14, 2023. We will help access the exit," the ministry's Director of Protection of Indonesian Citizens and Indonesian Legal Entities Judha Nugraha remarked in a press conference on Friday.

Since the latest escalation of conflict between Israel and Palestine triggered by the Hamas militant group's attacks on October 7, the Foreign Ministry noted that at least 231 Indonesian tourists had left the Israeli territory on October 9.

Thereafter, 38 Indonesian tourists left Israel and entered Jordan on October 11, while 44 Indonesian travelers departed from Israel and entered Jordan on October 12 respectively, so now, at least 313 Indonesian tourists successfully managed to leave the conflict area, the ministry reported.

In addition, as of Friday, some 143 Indonesian citizens were still caught in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict area, and only four of them were ready to be evacuated, the ministry stated.

Nugraha remarked that hundreds of Indonesian tourists will return to the country with the help of travel agents, who arranged their tour agendas.

The government's role, in this case, is to facilitate the return process by ensuring all Indonesian nationals can cross the border from Israel to Jordan and help with negotiations with the airlines, he remarked.

The Indonesian government has issued a travel advisory for Indonesian citizens with plans to visit or conduct religious tourism to Israel and Palestine and advised them to postpone their trip until the situation is safer.

The government also appealed to Indonesians living in Israel and Palestine to leave the region immediately, in anticipation of the worsening security and humanitarian conditions.  (ANTARA News)

VOI, Jakarta - The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) will implement a strategy to monitor fishing activities in the Indonesian waters by using satellites.

The ministry will implement Integrated Surveillance System technology or technology-based integrated surveillance using satellites.

"KKP Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono developed a monitoring strategy using satellites and is currently in the process of purchasing 20 nanosatellites to learn the fishing vessels' operational pattern," the ministry's Director General of Marine and Fisheries Resources Supervision, Rear Admiral Adin Nurawaluddin, stated in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, on Friday.

He explained that the operational pattern for the Integrated Surveillance System begins with satellite monitoring. After obtaining the results of satellite monitoring, his side will be able to find ships that potentially violate the regulation.

Based on identification, officers will use air patrol or airborne surveillance aircraft to validate the findings of violations from the satellite. If a violation is found, the monitoring ship will approach the fishing vessel's location.

"For example, in satellite monitoring, a ship is captured at SIPI 711, but it is fishing at 712. It clearly violates the regulation. With satellite monitoring, we can observe such things," Nurawaluddin explained.

With 90 operating days and a large area of water that needs to be monitored, this technology-based monitoring can be more effective, he stated.

However, monitoring vessels are still needed in border areas, especially in regions where border agreement issues had not yet been resolved, he remarked.

"Including in Malacca Strait and the North Natuna Sea that remain under direct supervision," he noted.

Earlier, Minister Trenggono stated that the 20 nanosatellites would be launched and begin operating in 2024.

He conveyed this at the National Maritime Seminar on September 29 to commemorate National Maritime Day.

He remarked that the nanosatellite launch is part of the marine space management strategy being developed by his side to support blue economy-based development.

He noted that the nanosatellites will later be used to map activities and conditions at sea.  (ANTARA News)

VOI, Jakarta - At least 129 Indonesian nationals in Palestine and Israel have refused to be evacuated amid rising tensions between the two nations, the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry has informed.

Director for the Protection of Citizens and Legal Entities Overseas at the ministry Judha Nugraha said the Indonesian citizens who have refused to be evacuated are those who are married to local residents or have permanent jobs in the West Bank, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem.

"The government's task is to provide information regarding the assessment of the security situation, but the choice to be evacuated lies with each citizen. We cannot force them," Nugraha informed at a press conference in Jakarta on Friday.

He noted that in accordance with Law Number 37 of 1999 concerning Foreign Relations, the government has provided the latest information regarding the security situation in Palestine and Israel and has appealed to Indonesian citizens to immediately leave the conflict area.

"However, based on the latest information, of the 133 Indonesian citizens who stay outside the Gaza Strip, only four people want to leave the area. The others refused to be evacuated because they felt safe," he said.

Apart from the 133 Indonesian citizens spread across a number of Israeli and Palestinian territories, the government said that 10 Indonesian citizens are in the Gaza Strip, which is the main target of Israeli air attacks on Palestine.

Thus, there are a total of 143 Indonesian citizens in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict area.

Since the war broke, triggered by an attack by the Palestinian Hamas militant group on Israel on October 7, 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has carried out intensive coordination with the Indonesian embassies in Amman, Cairo, Beirut, and Damascus as well as the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Indonesia (PTRI) in Geneva to obtain information about the prevailing security situation and prepare evacuation plans for Indonesian citizens.

Indonesian representatives in Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria have also coordinated with local state authorities, including immigration authorities to anticipate the evacuation of Indonesian citizens to neighboring countries.

"We prepared for contingency plans, including evacuation scenario routes," Nugraha disclosed.

According to him, the evacuation routes include the land route to Amman, Jordan; the land route to Cairo, Egypt; as well as commercial flight routes to third countries.

"We are not only developing one scenario because the situation is very difficult. Learning from our previous evacuation experiences, we are open to various options while the implementation will depend on the situation on the ground," he informed.(ANTARA News)