Govt eases restriction on travel to Saudi Arabia

JAKARTA (JP): The government has reconsidered its stance on travel to Saudi Arabia, and says that it will now permit haj pilgrims to travel on their own recognizance, but they must receive government approval beforehand.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs, which supervises all travel to Saudi Arabia during the haj season, has also waived a controversial rule requiring Indonesians intending to work in Saudi Arabia to obtain a special pass from his office.

The ministry has been trying to control travel in the past week, saying that unofficial travelers when added to the 158,000 government pilgrims could bring the number of pilgrims above Saudi Arabia's quota of 160,000.

The Saudi government has said this is not possible, as they control travel through the issuance of visas. It has promised that all travelers with visas will be allowed into the country.

Amidhan, the Director General of Islam and Haj Affairs, told reporters on Saturday that all the government's pilgrims have visas so there is nothing to worry about.

Amidhan said that his office has already issued permission to 6,024 people wanting to travel to Saudi Arabia on their own. Permission was also granted to 4,073 workers, 390 for crews of flights servicing the haj pilgrimage and 1,561 to others, including non-government pilgrims.

The government has long wanted all haj pilgrims to travel on its program. For many, the fact that going with the government costs almost twice as much as private tours, has proved to alluring to ignore.

The decision to relax the restriction was taken because the government does not want to be accused of obstructing people who intend to perform the pilgrimage, he said. "We'll keep issuing the recommendations until the quota has been taken up."

The issue of green passport pilgrims put Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher on the spot last week with politicians accusing him of exceeding his authority. Some even suggested that he resign.

Amidhan appealed to private pilgrims who have not secured their visas from the Saudi embassy to make their arrangements with the government instead because without the visa, they would unlikely obtain the ministry's recommendation.

By Saturday he said that around 1,000 people had applied to join the government program, he said.

Regarding the fate of Indonesians intending to work in Saudi Arabia, Amidhan said the decision to waive the requirement for special passes was taken because the ministry found the burden too heavy.

Some 2,500 workers bound for Saudi Arabia were stranded at the Soekarno-Hatta airport last week when the immigration authorities were ordered to stop them unless they had the special pass issued by the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

The action was protested by IMSA, the association of manpower supplier companies, who called the requirement inefficient and an added cost.

Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief apparently intervened on behalf of the companies resulting in the about face decision last weekend. (01)