Ministry of Religion Partners with Ministry of Religious Affairs to Prevent Non-procedural Hajj

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (Kemenhaj) has partnered with the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections (Kemenimipas) in an effort to prevent non-procedural Hajj practices through the Illegal Hajj Prevention Task Force (Satgas Haji).

Minister of Hajj and Umrah Mochamad Irfan Yusuf said that the cross-ministerial collaboration was carried out to strengthen supervision of the departure of pilgrims, especially those who do not use official visas.

"We were talking about that we were preparing the Hajj Task Force with friends from the police and we will also involve friends from Immigration regarding several things," said Menhaj as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, April 15.

He explained that in the previous hajj season, a number of Indonesian citizens were found to have departed for Saudi Arabia without using a hajj visa. This certainly raises various issues, both from the legal and protection of pilgrims.

For this reason, the government will prioritize educational steps for the public not to go on the hajj in a non-procedural manner.

In addition, the government is preparing preventive measures at departure locations, including at airports.

"We will try to educate them first so that they do not leave without using a Hajj visa, the second is that we will also prepare efforts that can help them at the airport," said Gus Irfan.

Meanwhile, Minister of Immigration and Correction Agus Andrianto hopes that the public will be aware of the legal and protection potential of pilgrims if they dare to leave without a valid procedure.

"This is actually more about protecting them. We hope that our citizens will not be left behind there because the current Saudi Arabian policy does not allow anything other than those holding a Hajj visa to go there," he said.

Previously, the National Police of the Republic of Indonesia (Polri) will focus on eradicating illegal hajj in the Hajj Task Force formed by the police together with the Ministry of Religion.

Head of Public Relations of the National Police, Inspector General Johnny Eddizon Isir, said that the other focus of the National Police in this task force is to protect pilgrims from fraud, ensure security and order, and uncover rogue travel networks.

"The assignment of the National Police is integrated to ensure that the implementation of the hajj is safe, orderly, and free from illegal practices," he said.

"In its implementation, the National Police will carry out preemptive, preventive and repressive functions (law enforcement) to address illegal hajj problems," he explained.