Haj embarkation chaos

Haj embarkation chaos

Indonesians have been going to Mecca to perform the haj pilgrimage for centuries and the government has been organizing the pilgrimage for at least 45 years. Yet almost every year we hear the same litany of difficulties and chaos.

Last year Indonesia sent 195,000 pilgrims -- the full quota allowed by the Organization of Islamic Conference -- and the affair was relatively well organized. This year we sent the same number of pilgrims, but reports of chaos have been flowing in from the haj embarkation cities of Jakarta, Balikpapan and Surabaya right from the first day of departure last Saturday.

At the very least the government failed to send 218 pilgrims from Balikpapan and 404 others from Surabaya that day because the local haj affairs agency had not received back all of the pilgrims's passports it had sent to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, which had in turn arranged the visas at the Saudi Arabian embassy in Jakarta. Local officials seemed to have prepared manifests for the pilgrims prematurely.

Since the departure to the Holy Land is closely linked to personal dignity, the pilgrims were reluctant to return home to wait for another call. Their rejection surely caused problems for the local haj committee, adding to the government's woes.

The uncertainty about their departure also put the pilgrims in an uneasy situation because many of them had arranged to take certain days off from the office.

The trouble was clearly not anticipated by the government. The Director General of Islamic and Haj Affairs of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, H. Ahmad Gozali, made an optimistic statement one day before the first batch of the pilgrims were to leave for the Holy Land, saying that everything was in order, because the system had been improved vastly. He also promised that every pilgrim would enter the haj dormitory at least two days before departure.

The chaos, which sent shock waves to many parts of the country, was made worse by the conflicting statements of the haj officials, some of whom blamed the Saudi embassy. The government has also urged the embassy to open a consulate in all Indonesian haj embarkation points in an effort to iron out visa problems in the future.

The Saudi Arabian ambassador here, Abdullah Abdurrahman Alim, responded that his mission is to serve the pilgrims' interests as best as possible and flatly rejected the idea of opening new consulates, arguing that this was not necessary since his embassy had no intention of making visa arrangements difficult.

But the confusion did not end here because Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher blamed the departure of 50,000 Indonesian Moslems for Mecca to perform a umrah (minor haj) pilgrimage during the holy month of Ramadhan ending on Feb. 19th. This statement seems silly, given that the Saudi embassy issued visas to 125,000 haj pilgrims an ample 10 days before the first day of departure.

The problem seems rather to lie with the arrangement of visa applications by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the failure of officials in the embarkation cities to arrange the departures. The chaos started with local officials making manifests before receiving the passports. Once the documents arrived not all those in the departure lists had obtained the visa.

It is quite understandable that husbands refused to leave without their wives who were still waiting for their passports. It is also common for pilgrims to refuse to be separated from their group leader, who will not only lead their tour but also give them ritual guidance.

The authorities have to take this year's problems seriously because they caused great distress among believers who simply wanted to discharge their religious obligations. To avoid confusion among the public the authorities should study the problem carefully and tell the people the truth.