JAKARTA: Around 500 to 700 Indonesians who went for Haj this year carrying Philippine passports are likely to return to their country from Saudi Arabia later this month, media reports said.
They are separate from the 177 Indonesians who were intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport when they were about to board a flight to Madinah in Saudi Arabia supposedly to proceed to Makkah for the pilgrimage, reported Philippine Star.
The 500 to 700 Indonesians were apparently able to slip by Philippine immigration authorities because of the passports they obtained and would reportedly fly back to Manila from Jeddah, the report said.
A source reportedly said it would only be from Manila that the Indonesians would again use their Indonesian passports and return to their country.
The use of Philippine passports to travel to Makkah is said to have become a lucrative racket because Indonesia only has a quota of 168,000 pilgrims while the Philippine quota is barely utilized, said the news portal.
Under Indonesian rule, those who are caught illegally assuming other nationalities will be stripped of of their Indonesian identity, according to the source.
But under such circumstances, the government treats them as victims rather than criminals. “It is not their fault that they are being duped by enterprising individuals who want to make money out of their desire to perform hajj,” the source was quoted as saying by Philippine Star.
