Ministry of Hajj to Tighten Screening of Indonesian Hajj Pilgrims

Jakarta - The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah will tighten screening of the profiles of Indonesian prospective Hajj pilgrims to prevent cases of pilgrims being repatriated because they are on a blacklist or banned by the Saudi Arabian government. “We emphasise to the pilgrims that if anyone is on the prevention list or ban list, prevent and block them, so they should immediately inform us. Thus, from the start, we can anticipate it,” said the Secretary of the Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah Organisational Development, Ministry of Hajj, Rizka Anungnata, in Jakarta on Friday. Rizka said that during the operational period of the 2026 Hajj departure, there were pilgrim members who were banned by Saudi authorities because they had previously committed violations. Those Hajj participants were temporarily prohibited from entering Saudi territory. The types of violations in question include overstaying or exceeding the permitted stay period when previously in Saudi Arabia. According to Rizka, the Ministry of Hajj is strengthening coordination with Saudi authorities to anticipate similar incidents. The Indonesian and Saudi governments will prepare a joint coordination mechanism regarding data on pilgrims on the prevention list. Rizka said this step is taken so that the Ministry of Hajj can know earlier the reasons why someone is on the blacklist, the duration of the prevention, and the possible legal assistance that can be provided. “We must know what the problem is, how long the prevention lasts, and what legal assistance we need to provide to these pilgrim members,” he said. Meanwhile, the Deputy Head of the Domestic and International Cooperation and Organisations Subdivision of the Ministry of Immigration and Passport Affairs, Tessar Bayu Setyaji, said the government continues to conduct monitoring and strict checks to prevent illegal Hajj departures. According to him, various methods are used to fly to Saudi Arabia. Even, Indonesian citizens were found who would transit in neighbouring countries and then depart to Saudi Arabia. The aim is to avoid detection by domestic immigration.