JAKARTA - The Indonesian Consul General in Jeddah City, Eko Hartono, delivered an explanation regarding the granting of a mujamalah hajj visa or a furoda hajj visa following a case faced by Indonesian citizens at the Jeddah airport, Saudi Arabia.
"The design should be free. In principle, it is at the discretion of the Saudis to grant invitation visas from the kingdom to any foreign nationals deemed necessary to improve relations between the Saudi government and local governments, including Indonesia," said Eko in Mecca, Wednesday, July 6, quoted from Antara.
Eko said that the mujamalah hajj visas were given to people recommended by the Saudi Arabian embassies in each country.
"They will determine who can be given it. The Indonesian government in this case the Ministry of Religion and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has absolutely no access to who is granted a mujamalah visa, this king's invitation," he said.
However, he said, the Ministry of Religion asked the travel agency that arranges the trip for the Hajj mujamalah visa holder to report to the ministry.
"If you don't report it, the Ministry of Religion doesn't know. Like Al Fatih's travel, it doesn't report to the Ministry of Religion," he said.
A total of 46 Indonesian citizens were reportedly detained at the immigration section of Jeddah airport because they used mujamalah visas from Malaysia and Singapore but departed from Indonesia.
Eko said that the consulate was figuring out how the 46 Indonesian nationals were able to obtain Hajj mujamalah visas from other countries.
He also revealed that PT Al Fatih, which arranged the journey of 46 furoda hajj candidates who were detained at Jeddah airport, was an educational foundation that had been operating since 2014 and was not registered as a special Hajj service provider at the Ministry of Religion.
Eko pointed out the need for coordination between the Ministry of Religion, the Saudi Arabian Embassy, and travel bureaus providing special Hajj services to prevent problems with the use of mujamalah hajj visas.
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