Dio Suhenda, Jakarta – The Religious Affairs Ministry has warned Indonesians to not attempt the haj without holding the correct visa, as Saudi authorities turn away thousands of unregistered pilgrims from across the globe ahead of the haj, which begins next week.

The haj, a religious obligation for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it, is set to take place on June 14, with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from across the world, including Indonesia, arriving in droves over the past few weeks.

Indonesia ranks among the top recipients of Saudi Arabia's highly sought-after pilgrim quota. This year, Indonesia received a quota of 241,000 pilgrims, the largest in the country's history and some 20,000 more than the quota last year.

The Religious Affairs Ministry's Haj and Umrah (minor haj) Director General Hilman Latief said only Indonesians who held haj visas were allowed to perform the religious rite.

"For those who [flew into Saudi Arabia] without a haj visa, please follow the existing regulations," Hilman said in a press release issued by the ministry on Thursday.

"There are rules that must be obeyed. We need to maintain these [rules] together, so that the Saudi kingdom's trust in the Indonesian people is also maintained," he added.

His warnings came after a group of 37 hopeful pilgrims from Makassar, South Sulawesi, were detained by Saudi authorities after they were found to hold fake haj visas.

Thirty-four of these pilgrims were flown back to Indonesia last week, while three people, who are thought to be the masterminds behind the illegal scheme, remained in the kingdom and are facing investigation by local authorities.

The Saudi Press Agency said that more than 153,000 foreigners who traveled from abroad on tourist visas, rather than the required haj visa, had been turned away in recent days, AFP reported.In addition, Saudi authorities have rounded up more than 171,000 others who are based in Saudi Arabia but are not residents of Mecca and did not have haj permits.

The Religious Affairs Ministry said during a press conference on Sunday that 204,000 Indonesians had arrived for the pilgrimage.

These pilgrims were flown to Saudi Arabia in more than 520 batches, the earliest of which departed on May 12. An additional 5,000 pilgrims were set to arrive on Sunday.

Despite the huge quota, the world's biggest Muslim-majority country has always struggled to manage the backlog of demand from Indonesians wanting to go on the haj.

Data from the ministry showed that an Indonesian applying for haj this year would have to wait anywhere between 11 and 47 years before going, depending on the quota in each city or regency. This means that many applicants are often in their 60s or 70s by the time they get the chance to go on the haj.

The high proportion of elderly pilgrims, coupled with the extreme heat of the Saudi Arabian summer, caused a spike in the mortality rate last year, when a total of 774 Indonesian pilgrims died. The figure was more than eight times the number of deaths in 2022 and the highest since 2015.

In a bid to curb the death toll, the Indonesian government introduced this year stricter health measures for would-be pilgrims, including a medical screening prior to departure, as well as better diagnoses and care for sick pilgrims during the pilgrimage.

According to ministry data, a total of 64 Indonesian pilgrims had died as of Sunday, with the majority of them dying during their stay in the Islamic holy city of Mecca.

Source: https://asianews.network/government-warns-indonesian-pilgrims-to-stick-to-saudi-haj-rules