Why green passports?<\/p>\n
Many Indonesian would-be haj pilgrims, who were using green
\npassports, were arrested by the Saudi Arabian government and were
\neven reportedly placed in jail.<\/p>\n
They were found guilty of using green passports, which means
\nthat they participated in the pilgrimage through illegal
\nchannels. (The government-sponsored pilgrims use brown
\npassports.)<\/p>\n
We believe that Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher
\nwill be able to settle this case without causing any trouble. But
\nwe must also consider some opinions that have emerged in the
\nsociety. Is sending these pilgrims back to Indonesia the best
\nalternative?<\/p>\n
Or perhaps the Indonesian government could ask the Saudi
\ngovernment to accept the faulty pilgrims this year, considering
\nthat Indonesia has a good reputation in haj-pilgrimage matters.
\nAnyhow the pilgrims are already there.<\/p>\n
Of course we cannot blame them for this incident because they
\nobviously left for Saudi Arabia using legal documents and the
\nSaudi's Embassy has issued them visas. And the immigration office
\ndid not make any attempt to stop them from leaving.<\/p>\n
The government should have anticipated the problem and
\nsubsequently prevented this undesirable incident. The root of the
\nproblem is lack of coordination between Indonesia and Saudi
\nArabia. Why should the pilgrims become victims of the
\nshortcomings?<\/p>\n
-Republika, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/why-green-passports-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }