Several Indonesian Embassy staffers in Beijing visited seven Indonesian citizens being detained at a penitentiary in Jimo District of Qingdao City, Shandong Province, on Saturday and Sunday.
The embassy team, led by Immigration Attache Raden Fitri Saptaji, had met them thanks to a good cooperation with the Qingdao city police.
The Chinese authorities arrested these Indonesian citizens for having worked illegally in Shandong's areas, Saptaji said without elaborating when they were nabbed.
To ensure their condition, the embassy staffers drove about 630 kilometers from Beijing to visit them, and provide them with immigration and consular services needed for their future repatriation, he explained.
"This is not our first visit to this penitentiary. Last year, we had also come here," he added.
The detainees told the embassy staffers that they are willing to be repatriated to Indonesia to enable them to go back to their respective hometowns in West Nusa Tenggara, West Java, and East Java, he said.
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To this end, Saptaji said the Indonesian embassy continues to coordinate with the Chinese authorities regarding their repatriation.
"We also prepare all necessary documents before the Chinese authorities allow them to be repatriated," he said.
Saptaji said he thanked the Qingdao city police for their good cooperation that had made the embassy team easily meet the Indonesian detainees.
He also urges the detainees not to repeat their unlawful acts. Instead, they are also demanded to persuade other Indonesian citizens who may still work illegally to surrender.
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