'€œWe have imposed the ban [on issuing trip organizer licenses] until an unknown date,'€ said the ministry'€™s director general for haj and umrah Abdul Djamil last week, as quoted by tempo.co.

Abdul said the ban is necessary since the government had been too lenient in giving them, decreasing the quality of the trips for years, including endangering the security of pilgrims.

'€œThere are many reports of pilgrims being abandoned [by the travel agencies]. We have to review [the agencies],'€ he said.

As the waiting time to perform haj is longer, Muslims in the country have resorted to performing umrah, which is possible to do almost every month.

Abdul said during the ban the government expects the existing trip operators to improve their services. He said that his ministry had asked for help from the National Police'€™s general crimes division, it is supposed to supervise the trips.

'€œIf [trip organizers] violate the rules, like abandoning the pilgrims, we will pursue it legally,'€ he said.

The ministry recorded more than 6.3 million who have departed for umrah since January. (***)

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