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Illegal haj pilgrim dispatch 'not uncommon' over last 6 years
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Haj pilgrims board an aircraft at Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, East Java, on Tuesday, Aug.9, 2016. (thejakartapost.com/Wahyoe Boediwardhana)
T
he arrest of 177 Indonesians in the Philippines for allegedly attempting to travel to Mecca on fake Philippine passports was a prime example of illegal haj pilgrim dispatches, a haj and umrah (minor pilgrimage) organizer association has said.
The chairman of the East Java branch of the Association of Indonesia Haj and Umrah Organizers (Amphuri), Fauzi Mahendra, said the dispatch of Indonesian haj pilgrims via a third country was not uncommon over the last five or six years, with most travel agents involved in the practice being unlicensed to organize haj and umrah travel.
“As an operation method, travel agents make use of unused seats in the haj quota of other countries, such as Timor Leste, the Philippines and Yemen, for haj pilgrims from Indonesia,” Fauzi said on Tuesday.
Such a practice is common, except for departures from Yemen, which is gripped by prolonged conflict and chaos.
Fauzi said illegal haj dispatches involved parties with strong networks operating both in Indonesia and the transit countries to avoid immigration detection.
Fauzi said his travel bureau had received and rejected an offer three years ago to sell unused haj seats belonging to the Philippine government.
Usually, he said, 40 to 65 Indonesian haj pilgrims went on the haj by using unused haj seats of other countries. In the latest incident, the number of pilgrims departing through this illegal practice was too many, drawing the attention of immigration officers at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila. (ebf)
