TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Like it or not, the government has to work hard to lobby the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to increase Indonesia’s hajj quota.
The case of the arrest of 177 Indonesian hajj pilgrims at Ninoy Aquino international airport in Manila the Philippines is an embarrassing incident caused by the minimum quota for our hajj pilgrims.
It is already known that those Indonesians dared to use forged Philippine passports as long as they could arrive in Saudi Arabia.
The hajj travel agent who arranged their departure should be immediately investigated.
There is no doubt that the travel agent must have worked with an international syndicate to forge the documents.
It is impossible that those hajj pilgrims, most of whom are from South Sulawesi, could obtain Philippines passports if the process of obtaining the passports were not assisted by a syndicate.
In those passports, their identities were stated as residents from Jolo, Sulu.
The sending of hajj pilgrims with Philippine passport was not the first one.
The Indonesians were tempted because so far, their friends and relatives over the years, have successfully left for Mecca with that way.
They even let a Filipino who becomes a pander opens an office in their area.
The wish of Indonesians to go on a hajj pilgrimage in easy way is understandable because it is not getting more and more difficult for someone to have their turn to do the pilgrimage.
With the normal number of quota, someone may have to wait for 20 years to have their turn.
The wait is now longer now that the quota has been cut.
In 2012, Indonesia still received a quota of 211,000 people.
However, following the ongoing construction of Haram mosque, the quota has been cut since 2013 into 168,800 people.
It is alleged that the illegal way to go on the pilgrimage is not only through the Philippines but also through Cambodia and Brunei.
Therefore, in addition to eradicate the syndicates, the government also has to ask the Kingdom to fulfill its promise.
In September last year, King Salman bin Abdulazis al-Saud promised President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo give an additional 10,000 quota for Indonesian hajj pilgrims.
However, the promise has not been fulfilled yet.
What the government can also do is lobbying governments of neighboring countries whose hajj slot is never used up just like the Philippines.
The Philippines’ hajj quota given by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is around 8,000 people.
However, this year, only around 7,000 Filipinos who go on hajj pilgrimage.
It is the remaining quota that is used by the syndicates.
Hajj pilgrimages from Sulawesi are their main target because their location is relative near Manila.
Instead of letting the remaining quota of Philippine hajj pilgrims is traded in the black market, it would be better for the government to lobby the Philippine government to get the remaining quota.
The government can also approach other countries in South East Asia who have more hajj quota, such as Thailand and Myanmar.
Thus, the number of hajj quota for Indonesia can significantly increase.
The formula of hajj quota according to the Resolution of the Organization of Islamic Conference in March 1998 is 1,000 people for 1 million Moslem population in every country.
Ideally, Indonesia’s hajj quota is 250,000 people.
The problem, however, remains: coordination between Religious Affairs Ministry and Foreign Affairs Ministry to carry out diplomacy to add the quota is still weak.
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