Indonesia Gets Additional 8,000 Hajj Pilgrims Quota

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesia will receive an additional quota of 8,000 pilgrims. This addition has been included in the e-Hajj system, Saudi Arabia’s visa application.

Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said that his party was still waiting for an official letter from Saudi Arabia and would immediately discuss it with the Indonesian House Representatives (DPR).

“As of today, the additional quota has been confirmed as included in the e-Hajj, totaling 8,000 pilgrims. We are waiting for an official letter from Saudi Arabia. We will also discuss it with the DPR soon,” said Gus Men, the nickname for the Minister of Religion in Jakarta on Sunday.

“The Ministry of Religion will communicate intensively with various parties, including the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia, to respond to this additional quota,” he continued.

This year, Indonesia gets a quota of 221,000 pilgrims. This number consists of 203,320 quotas for regular pilgrims and 17,680 quotas for special pilgrims. They have carried out the settlement process from April 11 to May 5, 2023. There are still 14,356 pilgrims who have not made payment or confirmed the payment of the 1444 H Hajj Travel Expenses (Bipih), so the process has been extended to May 12, 2023.

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According to the Minister of Religion, there are a number of stages that must be carried out in the process of departing the pilgrims, since the establishment of a quota. First, he said, the Ministry of Religion must hold a working meeting with the DPR’s Commission VIII to discuss the use of the additional quota and its financing.

“The result of the agreement with the DPR is then used as the basis for issuing a Presidential Decree regarding additional quotas. After that, a Decree of the Minister of Religion regarding Guidelines for Paying Hajj for Additional Quotas must be issued,” said Minister of Religion Yaqut.

At the same time, continued the Minister of Religion, the Ministry of Religion will immediately verify the data of pilgrims who are entitled to depart to be announced as pilgrims who are entitled to make payments. The next stage is the settlement period.

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“Along with the settlement, the Ministry of Religion will arrange the documents for the congregation, starting from passports, adjusting service contracts with service providers in Saudi, so that additional quota congregation visas can also be issued,” he said.

“Flight contracts will also be adjusted as additional quotas are available, and this includes arrangements for dividing the group and flight schedules,” said Gus Men.

Director General of Hajj and Umrah Management Hilman Latief said the time available was indeed quite limited, because the first batch of pilgrims had started flying to Saudi Arabia on May 24, 2023.

However, he said, they will work hard so that the additional quota can be maximally absorbed so that more and more Indonesian pilgrims can go on pilgrimage this year.

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According to Hilman, in 2022, Indonesia will also receive an additional quota of 10,000 pilgrims but at that time it was not possible to follow up. This is because the certainty of an additional quota will only be informed on June 21, 2022.

Meanwhile, the deadline for the visa process for regular pilgrims at that time was June 29, 2022 and the final flight (closing date) for pilgrims departing from Indonesia, July 3, 2022.

In 2019, Indonesia will also receive an additional 10,000 quotas. However, it was confirmed that there would be an additional quota in April 2019. Even though the first flight group departed at that time on July 5 2019.

“Although not much, this year there is still time for preparation. We will try our best so that the quota is absorbed optimally,” said Hilman. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)