DDHK.ORG - The government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has officially allowed again Indonesian pilgrims to perform Umrah. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, the permit was granted following the pace of development of Covid-19 in Indonesia which began to improve.
"The Embassy (of Saudi Arabia) has received information from competent parties in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia regarding arrangements for the resumption of Umrah for Indonesian pilgrims," Foreign Minister Retno said at an online press conference, Saturday (9/10/2021), as reported by CNN Indonesia.
This was conveyed by Retno based on a diplomatic note received from the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Jakarta.
The special committee in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, said Retno, is currently minimizing all obstacles to the reopening of Umrah for pilgrims from Indonesia. Retno stated that the Indonesian government and the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are now in the final stages of technical discussions, including related to vaccines and the quarantine process.
"The diplomatic note also mentions considering setting a five-day quarantine period for Umrah pilgrims who do not meet the required health standards," said Retno.
As is known, in August 2021 Saudi Arabia has reopened the implementation of Umrah for certain countries, but not yet for Indonesia. Based on the latest decision, Saudi Arabia has also recognized the Covid-19 vaccines produced by China, Sinovac and Sinopharm. Previously, Saudi Arabia only recognized four coronavirus vaccines, namely Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Modern and Johnson and Johnson. However, Saudi Arabia requires visitors to be injected with booster vaccines from 4 types of vaccines, namely Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson. [DDHKNews]
