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Indonesia to send 'umrah' pilgrims to Saudi Arabia despite Omicron threat
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Muslims gather to pray around the Kaaba, the holiest shrine in the Grand Mosque complex in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca, to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, on May 13, 2021. (AFP/Abdulghani ESSA )
T
he government will allow pilgrims to travel to Saudi Arabia for umrah (minor haj) later this month, a move that experts say is risky given the threat of the emerging Omicron variant, which has been detected in the gulf country.
The Religious Affairs Ministry’s haj and umrah director general Hilman Latief said there were no plans to restrict umrah pilgrims at the moment and the first batch of pilgrims were expected to depart in the middle of this month.
"We’ll push through with the plan [to send umrah pilgrims], since there is currently no travel ban between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia," Hilman told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
However, he added that a recent decision by the government to extend the mandatory quarantine period for international travelers to 10 days due to concerns over the Omicron variant was likely to deter many from participating in the rite, considering that the longer quarantine period would increase the cost for pilgrims upon their return to Indonesia.
On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia lifted travel bans from the six largest pilgrim-sending countries, including Indonesia, Pakistan and India after a suspension of some nine months.
The move was made as countries around the world were closing their borders following the discovery of the Omicron variant, which the World Health Organization (WHO) said posed "a very high risk" of causing infection surges and is deemed very likely to spread internationally.
Omicron carries up to 50 mutations -- more than any other variant -- and scientists fear that these mutations might make it more resistant to vaccines and may increase the risk of reinfection.
