Indonesian Pilgrims Want To Travel Out Of The City For Hajj, Ministry Of Religion Affirms Prohibition

Illustration of the pilgrimage. (Antaranews)

JAKARTA - Acting Head of the Public Relations and Data Bureau of the Ministry of Religion (Kemenag) Wawan Djunaedi said the Indonesian government forbade pilgrims from traveling to cities other than the cities of pilgrimage in accordance with the provisions of the Saudi Arabian authorities.

"In accordance with the provisions of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the cities of pilgrimage are the two holy cities, namely Makkah Al-Mukarramah and Medina Al-Munawaroh," Wawan said at a press conference on the implementation of the pilgrimage in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Monday, June 18.

Wawan added that during the pilgrimage, pilgrims were not allowed to leave the two holy cities for any reason. Pilgrims are allowed to leave the city of Hajj only for the process of coming and returning to their country of origin.

He said that traveling other than to the cities of pilgrimage can be detrimental to the congregation, such as if they are sick, have an accident, or other unwanted things.

Moreover, until now the air temperature is still classified as extreme with an average of 44 degrees Celsius so it is very vulnerable.

"Therefore, the Indonesian government appeals to all Indonesian pilgrims not to travel for any reason outside the pilgrimage city as mentioned," he said.

Meanwhile, entering the third day of the return of Indonesian pilgrims who were included in the first batch of flying groups, the number of pilgrims who arrived in the country had reached 8,337 regular pilgrims and 1,536 special pilgrims.

"Today, 8 of the 5 debarkation groups will be repatriated, namely, JKG (Jakarta Garuda Pondokgede), JKS (Jakarta Saudia Bekasi), SOC (Solo), PDG (Padang) and SUB (Surabaya), totaling 3,251 people," he said.

The data on the pilgrims who died so far has increased by three people, bringing the total number of pilgrims who died during the Hajj pilgrimage to 59 people.