Successful Hajj scammers return to Indonesia

By Ainur Rohmah

TUBAN, Indonesia (AA) - Of the 106 Indonesian pilgrims who sneaked on Hajj by illegally acquiring Philippines passports, 57 have now returned, authorities said Friday.

The 106 were one of two groups identified earlier this year as having utilized syndicates that offer them opportunities to travel to Mecca by using unused Hajj quota allocated to the Philippines.

The first group, however, never made it after being arrested in the Philippines in August as they attempted to board a plane to Saudi Arabia.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told Anadolu Agency on Friday that the remaining 49 were scheduled to arrive in Jakarta later in the day.

"Everything has been dealt with," he added.

Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, the foreign ministry'€™s director for the protection of Indonesian citizens and legal entities, has said that the 57 have been given temporary accommodation in a local hostel and will be questioned by police and immigration over for the next three days.

"This investigation is needed so the situation does not arise again," detik.com quoted Iqbal as saying.

He added that despite the pilgrims acting illegally, they had been victims of illegal Hajj syndicates.

On Aug. 19 this year, an initial group of 177 Indonesians were arrested at Manila airport carrying Philippine Hajj passports believed to have been acquired fraudulently for $6,000-$10,000.

They were returned home in September, among them an elderly couple who had sold a hectare of farmland to pay for the Muslim pilgrimage.

Authorities then identified around 700 Indonesian pilgrims as having made it to Hajj using the scheme, sending a team to Manila to organize their return.

After diplomatic efforts between President Joko Widodo and Philippines counterpart Rodrigo Duterte it was announced that those who had succeeded in the scam would not be prosecuted and instead allowed to go home.

"We had been seeking them [the pilgrims] so they can go home, but this should not happen again," Iqbal said Friday.

"If it is repeated, there is no guarantee they can be freed under Philippines law."

Marsudi told Anadolu Agency that the 700 was an estimate by Philippines authorities, and they in fact numbered only 106.

As the recipient of the largest Hajj quota, Indonesia -- the world’s most populous Muslim country, with a population of around 256 million -- sends around 200,000 pilgrims to Mecca and Medina every year.

It is the largest annual gathering of people in the world.

Each Indonesian pilgrim must pay a deposit of around $2,500 and there are currently more than 2 million Indonesians on the waiting list, prompting some to seek alternatives.

Residents of South Sulawesi experience the longest queue of up to 32 years.