Not Deported, Dozens Of Indonesian Citizens With Non Hajj Visas Returned Independently

Illustration of prospective pilgrims/ Photo: IST

JAKARTA - Head of the Special Class I Immigration Office for TPI Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Subki Miuldi explained, dozens of pilgrims who used non-hajj visas were not deported, but were repatriated independently.

"Only 2 people who came home from Saudi Arabia and it did come home from there, independently. It's not deportation because there are no deportation stamps or anything, "said Subki in his statement, Wednesday, June 5.

This is reinforced by the absence of official information from the airline if deportation actions are taken against the pilgrims.

"Because there was no notification from the airline and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for deportation, if there was deportation the airline informed us and we knew it was deportation. Airlines did not officially notify us. The repatriation system for Indonesian citizens is normal," he said.

Regarding whether pilgrims use fake visas, Subki admitted that he could not confirm this because it was not his authority.

"I can't agree that it's a fake visa. But from us, we don't have the right to judge whether it's a fake visa or not, because we didn't issue it," he said.

Not only that, Subki also denied that the dozens of pilgrims were denied their arrival in Saudi Arabia. The reason is, they had time to settle and do activities there.

"So they just go home, go home independently. They already have a time lag to live there, so it's not rejected either," he concluded.