Director General: Prevention of Illegal Hajj is a Form of State Protection

Illustration of the Hajj. (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Director General of Immigration of the Ministry of Immigration and Correction Hendarsam Marantoko stated that the prevention of non-procedural or illegal haj pilgrims was a form of state protection for Indonesian citizens.

"This departure prevention is a preventive step for the safety of the pilgrims," Hendarsam said in his statement in Jakarta, Friday, as quoted by Antara.

Hendarsam again reminded that the immigration's firm action to prevent this non-procedural departure was not to limit.

"The spirit of 'Immigration for the people' means that we are here to protect all citizens from potential exploitation, fraud, and legal vulnerability in the country of the people. Worship safely, legally, and according to recognized procedures," said Hendarsam.

He continued to urge his staff to increase vigilance in the immigration examination process during the haj pilgrimage.

Hendarsam emphasized that the modernization of the immigration supervision system is designed to close the gap in human smuggling through various modes.

"The integration of systems at all immigration checkpoints is currently able to read the track record of crossing in real time," he said.

Once there is a suspicious subject, he continued, his party will input it as a subject of interest so that other crossing gates can be immediately on alert.

Immigration has carried out a number of non-procedural Hajj departure prevention at a number of airports. This time at Kualanamu International Airport, Medan, North Sumatra.

A total of 13 Indonesian citizens are suspected of performing the hajj without a procedural. The group tried to leave using Malaysia Airlines (MH0861) to Kuala Lumpur.

They were secured at Kualanamu Airport, Medan, on Thursday (21/5).

Head of the North Sumatra Immigration Directorate General Regional Office (Kakanwil) Parlindungan explained that this incident began when the Kualanamu Immigration officer found a 100 percent score on the subject of interest during the examination of 13 Indonesian citizens at the Immigration counter, consisting of eight men and five women.

To the officers, the group admitted that they would leave for Malaysia for a vacation. The officers then directed all passengers to the next examination room.

Parlindungan said the results of the interview revealed inconsistencies in the documents owned by the group of Indonesian citizens.

"At first they admitted that they wanted to travel to Malaysia. However, after further investigation, they admitted that their ultimate goal was Saudi Arabia to perform the hajj without official procedures," said Parlindungan.

Medan Immigration Office Head Uray Avian added that officers detected one of the passengers named Santo Aseano who was suspected of acting as a field coordinator.

Based on the track record of crossing data, this group is known to have tried to leave twice through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on May 10, 2026 and through Batam, but was successfully thwarted by local immigration officers.

The success of the prevention of non-procedural haj pilgrims at the three main gates of the Indonesian crossing is the fruit of the coordination of national immigration data that is integrated in real time.

Currently, the North Sumatra Immigration Directorate General is coordinating with the North Sumatra Police for further handling and enforcement of the law against the group coordinator.

Immigration appeals to the public not to be tempted by the offer of instant hajj departure without an official visa. The use of non-procedural channels is very risky for the security, legal rights, and protection of Indonesian citizens while in Saudi Arabia.

Throughout the 2026 Hajj, the Directorate General of Immigration and its ranks have prevented the departure of 157 non-procedural prospective Hajj pilgrims.