Indonesia rejects offer to send 10,000 more for haj this year

Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba and pray at the Grand Mosque as Saudi Arabia welcomes back pilgrims for the 2022 haj season, after the kingdom barred foreign travellers over the last two years because of Covid-19, in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on July 1. - Reuters

JAKARTA, July 2 (Jakarta Post/ANN): The government has declined an offer from the Saudi Arabian authorities to send an additional 10,000 Indonesians on the holy pilgrimage this year, citing time constraints.

Following eased Covid-19 restrictions, the government announced earlier this year that Indonesia would be sending some 100,000 pilgrims to go on haj, after two years of health and mobility restrictions that barred potential pilgrims from doing so.