Indonesia Can't Play Tricks with Hajj Pilgrim Allocation from Saudi Arabia
BANDA ACEH - Muhadjir Effendy, the President's Special Advisor on Hajj Affairs, made it clear that the Indonesian government can't just mess around with the hajj pilgrim quota they've already agreed on with Saudi Arabia in a memorandum of understanding (MoU). He said this during a trial on alleged corruption in the 2024 extra hajj quota at the Corruption Court in Central Jakarta, Tuesday night, September 1, 2026.
"Our regulations gotta follow the rules Saudi has in place," Muhadjir explained. He stressed that as a country sending pilgrims, Indonesia is bound to stick to what Saudi Arabia lays down, including the split between regular and special hajj quotas spelled out in the MoU.
Muhadjir also shared his experience from when he was acting Minister of Religious Affairs back in 2022-Indonesia got an extra 10,000 pilgrim slots but couldn't actually use them because of timing issues, funding problems, and accommodation readiness on the Saudi side. He assured that there was no financial loss to the state from not making use of those additional slots.
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