TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Minister Wiranto said that the Indonesian Embassy had done well in handling the case entangling 177 Indonesian haj pilgrims detained in Philippine for using forged documents to depart for Saudi Arabia.
"They have been turned in to the Indonesian Embassy, because they are victims who allegedly use fake passports," Wiranto told journalists at his office in Jakarta on Friday, August 26, 2016.
Wiranto added that most of the pilgrims had been relocated to the Embassy after being held at the Philippine detention center.
"As many as 138 [pilgrims] plus one have been relocated to the Indonesian Embassy. The rest of them are still being negotiated, so that all of them will be repatriated," Wiranto explained.
Wiranto admitted that the repatriation process would take time, since they could be probed as witnesses in the fraud case.
"The investigation revealed that they are victims of a fraud committed by a syndicate," Wiranto said.
Indonesian Ambassador to Philippine Johny Lumintang confirmed that as many as 138 Indonesians, consisting of 84 females and 54 males, had been relocated to the Indonesian Embassy.
"On Friday morning at 2 a.m. local time, 138 [Indonesians] had been relocated," Johny told Tempo.
According to Johny, the rest of them will be relocated upon a verification process conducted by immigration offices of the two countries. The Philippine Justice Department earlier had approved the relocation to provide better facilities from the pilgrims.
YOHANES PASKALIS
