Saudi Arabia Allows Tourists To Enter From 11 Countries, There Is No Indonesia In The List

Illustration-Masjidil Haram in Mecca. (Wikimedia Commons/Prof. Mortel)

JAKARTA - The government of Saudi Arabia announced that they will only open limited access to its territory for 11 countries starting today, Sunday, May 30. These countries include the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Germany, America, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, England, Sweden, Switzerland, France, and Japan.

This announcement was carried out by the Twitter social media account @MOISaudiArabia, which is the official account of the ministry that handles the security affairs of Hajj pilgrims.

These eleven countries were allowed to enter the territory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the basis of consideration of the success of their governments in maintaining the stability of the epidemic situation and their effectiveness in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic in their respective countries.

However, Indonesia is not included in the list of countries allowed to enter. This means that the opportunity for prospective Indonesian pilgrims to be able to carry out Hajj in 2021/1443 Hijri still leaves a question mark.

In response to this information, a member of Commission VIII of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Bukhori Yusuf, urged the Indonesian government to take this situation seriously. According to him, the government must discuss it with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to allow Indonesian pilgrims to take part in this year's hajj activities.

"The latest dynamics require the Indonesian government to be more serious in taking a number of strategic steps related to Hajj preparations", Bukhori told reporters on Sunday, May 30.

On the other hand, the PKS Party politician regrets the Saudi Arabian government's decision not to include Indonesia in the list of countries granted access by the kingdom. According to him, the decision reflects the weakness of the Indonesian government's Hajj diplomacy efforts to convince the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In fact, the decision to depart for Hajj absolutely requires government intervention.

"In principle, we respect the decision of the KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ed) which we believe is ijtihad for the safety of the pilgrims. Meanwhile, on the other hand, this latest condition must be an evaluation material for the Indonesian government because until now, the KSA has not removed Indonesia from the suspended list", he said.

With this problem, according to Bukhori, the government must be extra serious in making policy steps to fulfill the state's responsibility for Hajj readiness this year.

"The quality of diplomacy must be improved so that Hajj certainty can be obtained immediately for pilgrims from Indonesia", he said.

Bukhori understands the mood of the pilgrims who are again adrift due to this decision. Therefore, he encouraged the Indonesian government's extra work to win Hajj diplomacy with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

"For the sake of certainty for our prospective pilgrims, where most of them have been vaccinated and are ready to go to the holy land", he concluded.