REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi met with her Saudi counterpart Adel bin Ahmed Al Jubier during her visit to the country on Tuesday to discuss protection of Indonesian citizens, among other issues.
Minister Marsudi started her tour of several Middle Eastern countries with Saudi Arabia as her first destination, according to a press release received here on Wednesday from the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
With regard to protecting citizens in Saudi Arabia, she urged the Saudi government to improve consular access and notification process for Indonesian citizens dealing with legal problems in the country, including death penalty.
In response, the Saudi minister agreed to increase cooperation with the Indonesian government and set up a mechanism that would provide quick access and notifications to the Indonesian embassy or the representative office in Saudi Arabia.
At the meeting, Marsudi also received commitment from the Saudi government on expediting the release and repatriation of five Indonesian citizens from Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, who were acquitted from death penalty.
The Indonesian consular general in Jeddah fought to get the five citizens acquittal from death penalty for the last eight years through court procedures and by approaching the families of the victims.
Moreover, Minister Marsudi took a special opportunity to pay a courtesy call on Saudi King Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud.
During this meeting with the king, she submitted an invitation from President Joko Widodo to make a state visit to Indonesia.
She also expressed her appreciation to the king for the various policies issued by his government to protect Indonesian citizens, especially those implemented during his 48-year-long term as the governor of Riyadh.
On the occasion, she also made an appeal to the Saudi government to once again grant amnesty to Indonesian citizens who violated immigration laws.
Furthermore, while in Saudi Arabia, the minister also took an opportunity to meet with representatives of Indonesian citizens and the Indonesian migrant workers group in the kingdom.
At the meeting, she urged the Indonesian citizens to keep adhering to the laws in Saudi Arabia and assured them that the Indonesian embassy and consular office would always be ready to help them.
She also expressed her appreciation to the Indonesian citizens who cooperated with the consular office in Jeddah so far in their efforts to help citizens facing problems there.
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