By: Diaz Wulandari) *
Indonesia’s performance in organizing and serving pilgrims turned out to receive praise from the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This was stated by the Indonesian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Agus Maftuh Abegebriel in his press statement to reporters at the Indonesian Hajj Affairs Office located in Medina.
For the first time in history, Indonesian pilgrims were welcomed directly by Prince of Saudi Arabia, the son of King Salman, namely Prince Faisal Ibn Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, who was also Governor of Medina.
Not only that, according to Agus, the Prince of Saudi Arabia was also accompanied by the Minister of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia, as well as a number of other high officials, both from the interior ministry, and others.
This certainly shows how familiar diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia are. His party often mentions that the relations between the two countries with the term Saudnesia axis are Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.
Both countries, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, show that both are enjoying good times, the golden age of bilateral relations between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.
Agus explained, King Salman’s son directly came to Madinah Airport and welcomed Indonesian pilgrims who had just arrived in Medina.
Raja Salman’s son also expressed his happiness and happiness, because the implementation of the Indonesian state Hajj was very good compared to other countries. He also praised the system of organizing Indonesian Hajj which was able to dispatch a very large number of pilgrims, even the largest in the world and classified as the neatest.
In fact, Agus Maftuh also said that the system for organizing Indonesian Hajj would be a prototype (model) to be developed and used for all other countries.
On the occasion of the meeting, King Salman’s son also questioned the uniform used by Indonesian pilgrims. Agus then answered that the uniforms worn by Indonesian pilgrims were batik, typical Indonesian clothing and had been recognized by Unesco as a world cultural heritage.
In addition, he added, Indonesia also became the first country to get fast track service while at the airport, so that through the service, Indonesian pilgrims only needed about 1.30 minutes per flight for inspection at Immigration. This is an innovation developed by the Saudi government in its efforts to improve service to the public.
At present there are only 5 countries that are permitted and given Fast Track service facilities, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This is because the five countries are the countries that send a very large number of pilgrims.
The Indonesian Embassy for Saudi Arabia certainly hopes that through diplomacy carried out by the Indonesian government and maintaining relations between the two countries, it is expected that the quota of Indonesian pilgrims in the coming years will continue to increase.
The closeness of diplomatic relations is also expected to increase the quota of pilgrims, where in fact the Indonesian government has proposed an additional quota of Hajj pilgrims totaling 29 thousand quota, but when President Jokowi visited Saudi Arabia, the new Saudi government gave 10 thousand quota. We certainly hope that there will be an additional 19 thousand additional to be even 250 thousand quota in the next mass.
We need to know that the Indonesian population departed
Hajj, his age is very advanced. Even some of them are over 70 years old. Meanwhile, they are waiting for 30-40 years. For this reason, it seems that the government of Saudi Arabia is willing to increase the Hajj quota because it sees real desire and seriousness in helping the service of pilgrims.
The closeness of the relationship between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia is expected to provide benefits for both countries.
The implementation of Indonesian Hajj was also successful in attracting the Bangladesh Hajj mission team. Where they judge the Indonesian pilgrims with a very large number and even the most in the world, able to regulate the system of organizing the Hajj properly and orderly.
The appreciation certainly shows remarkable achievements by the Indonesian government in accommodating the needs of the Hajj Pilgrims. The hope is that this can also be an example for other countries participating in the Hajj process.
) * The author is a sociopolitical observer