The provision of hajj quotas in 1443 H is not carried out as in the previous years through the signing of the MoU between the two countries represented by Minister of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia and Minister of Religious Affairs of the Republic ofJakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Religious Affairs announced that the amount of regular and special hajj quota for the 1443 Hijriah pilgrimage had been determined by the Saudi Arabian government.
"The provision of hajj quotas in 1443 H is not carried out as in the previous years through the signing of the MoU between the two countries represented by Minister of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia and Minister of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. However, the quota is given directly by the Saudi Arabia Government through e-Haj," Director General of Hajj and Umrah Organizers at the Ministry of Religious Affairs Hilman Latief noted in a written statement here, Wednesday.
Latief later remarked that the distribution of regular and special hajj quotas was conducted according to the allocation set by the Saudi Arabian government. Systemically, through e-Haj, the Saudi Arabia Government has divided 92,825 quotas for Indonesian regular pilgrims and 7,226 quotas for special Hajj.
Determination of the Hajj quota by the Saudi Arabian Government was only published in mid-April during the pandemic. In time, information regarding the certainty of the hajj quota is limited, as usually, the discussion of the MoU was conducted since December of the previous year.
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Latief assessed that the Hajj quota determination by the Government of Saudi Arabia was conducted on the basis of data on the percentage of Indonesian pilgrims in the previous year that was not exactly eight percent.
The quota for pilgrims this year is also less than the quota assumption discussed with the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the House of Representatives (DPR) while discussing the Cost of Organizing the Hajj (BPIH) in mid-April.
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"However, we are still grateful that this year, there will be Indonesian pilgrims, who can go to the Holy Land to perform Hajj," Latief remarked.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs is currently focusing on preparing services for Indonesian pilgrims at home and abroad. The ministry continues to conduct communication and coordination with partners abroad while finalizing the preparation of services for Indonesian pilgrims.
"Hopefully, the condition wii return to normal soon, so that next year, the hajj quota will also return to normal, both for regular and special hajj," he concluded.
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Translator: Asep Firmansyah, Resinta S
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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