50 Percent of Hajj Pilgrims Have Fulfilled Health Requirements

Jakarta – The settlement of the Pilgrimage Travel Cost (Bipih) for regular pilgrims has been open since January 10, 2024. Pilgrims must meet the health istitha'ah requirements before making the settlement.

Anna Hasbie, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Religious Affairs, stated that almost 50 percent of the total Indonesian quota for regular Hajj pilgrims have undergone health checks and meet the istitha'ah health requirements.

"As many as 100,181 pilgrims have undergone health checks and have been declared to meet the istitha'ah health requirements," Hasbie explained in Jakarta on Sunday.

"This number will continue to increase as the health checks for pilgrims are still ongoing,"

Pilgrims who have fulfilled the istitha'ah health requirements, according to Anna, can proceed to settle the Pilgrimage Travel Cost (Bipih).

For the first phase, the settlement process will continue until February 12, 2024.

"Siskohat (the Hajj Organizing Information System) recorded that 22,927 regular Hajj pilgrims have already settled the Hajj fees," Habsie remarked.

The pilgrims who have settled include 22,161 individuals within the quota for pilgrims entitled to settle, 277 pilgrims with priority quotas for the elderly, and 489 reserve pilgrims.

From Siskohat's data, Hasbie observed an increasing trend in the number of pilgrims settling. While the numbers were below 1,000 each in the first three days, they reached 6,130 and 8,064 in the last two days.

"I anticipate a significant increase in settlements next week. This is because the pilgrims who have met the istitha'ah health requirements exceed 100,000," she stated.

Meanwhile, Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas has signed an MoU regarding the organization of the 1445 H Hajj with Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq F Al Rabiah in early January 2024.

Indonesia has been allocated a quota of 241,000 pilgrims, consisting of regular Hajj pilgrims and special Hajj pilgrims.

The Director-General of Hajj and Umrah Implementation has issued Decision Number 83 of 2024 concerning the Technical Guidelines for Implementing the Settlement of Regular Hajj Travel Costs for the 1445 Hijriah/2024 Gregorian.

The settlement of Bipih for 1445 H/2024 M first phase is open from January 10 to February 12, 2024. The first phase is intended for: a) regular Hajj pilgrims within the current year's departure quota; b) priority regular Hajj pilgrims for the elderly; and c) reserve regular Hajj pilgrims.

Pilgrims who have undergone health checks and meet the istitha'ah health requirements can settle Bipih.

The decision of the Director-General of PHU regulates the settlement mechanism for regular Hajj pilgrims within the current year's departure quota as follows:

1) Pilgrims settle Bipih at the same Bipih Depository Bank (BPS) as the initial deposit or its replacement BPS Bipih;

2) Pilgrims' Bipih payment is the amount of Bipih per embarkation minus the initial Bipih deposit and the virtual account from the Hajj Finance Management Agency (BPKH);

3) Pilgrims who have settled Bipih must report to the Ministry of Religious Affairs District/City Office.