Minister Of Religion Surprised That Saudi Arabia Still Bans Indonesians From Entering The Country

Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas (Personal Instagram)

JAKARTA - Some time ago, the Saudi Arabian aviation authority opened permits for 11 countries to enter the country. But, unfortunately, Indonesia is not included in the list of 11 countries.

The countries in question are the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Italy, Britain, Ireland, Japan, Germany, France, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas admitted that he was surprised why Indonesia had not yet received an entry permit. He admitted that he did not know what criteria the Saudis used in allowing other countries to enter the country.

"I think the handling of COVID-19 is an important issue. The handling of COVID-19 in Indonesia is relatively good. I don't know why Indonesian citizens are still not allowed to enter Saudi Arabia", Yaqut said in his statement, Wednesday, June 2.

To Yaqut's confusion, the United States became the country with the highest accumulation of cases in the world but was included in the list of countries allowed to enter Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia is still lower than the number of countries that are allowed to enter.

"In order, the USA has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world. France is at number 8, Italy is at number 9, Germany is at number 17, while Indonesia is at number 19 in the number of COVID-19 cases", said Yaqut.

In this regard, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said that until now there has been no country that has received certainty regarding the quota for the Hajj pilgrimage to 1442 Hijri/2021 AD.

According to Yaqut, the Saudi Arabian government has not announced certainty about the opening of the Hajj pilgrimage for foreign citizens and their quotas.

"There is not a single country in the world that has a hajj mission, which now has a hajj quota. Because the hajj quota depends on the Saudi government", Yaqut said.

Yaqut also asked all parties to wait for an official announcement regarding the implementation of the Hajj from the Government of Saudi Arabia.

However, the Indonesian government will also take a stand on whether to dispatch pilgrims or not.

"When it comes to the decision whether Indonesia will send the hajj pilgrims or not, we will wait. In one or two days there will be a decision", he said.