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147 Indonesians detained for alleged visa misuse repatriated from Saudi Arabia
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Devoted -- A man holds his wife as they circle the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 8. The cube-shaped shrine is the site that the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims pray toward five times a day. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
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undreds of Indonesian citizens arrested by Saudi Arabian authorities for allegedly misusing their visas to go on the haj have been repatriated, a Foreign Ministry official has said.
The ministry’s director for the protection of Indonesian nationals abroad, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, said 147 Indonesian citizens were found to have either overstayed or misused their visas to work in areas outside Mecca. They also used their visas to enter Mecca to go on the haj without proper permits.
“They are blacklisted and banned from entering Saudi Arabia, either for the haj or visiting the country, for the next 10 years,” Iqbal told journalists on Tuesday.
The unsuccessful haj pilgrims are part of 229 Indonesians arrested by Saudi Arabian authorities on Friday for attempting to go on the haj without proper permits. Caught at two illegal shelters, the Indonesian citizens were accused of paying a sum of money to a syndicate promising to arrange their pilgrimage.
Iqbal further said Indonesian and Saudi Arabian authorities were conducting a joint investigation into an alleged immigration violations committed by 82 other Indonesians.
The ministry official said they would soon be deported if they were proven guilty only of violating immigration procedures. If they were found to have committed additional crimes, they would face a legal process under Saudi Arabian laws. (ebf)
