REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA  --  The Indonesian government is seeking to solve the problem of 177 Indonesian detained in the Philippines for using false identity using Philippines passport for hajj pilgrimage.

The Indonesians from Sulawesi and Java were found by the Philippine authorities using fake Philippine passports at the Manila International Airport.

They risked using fake passports after they failed to get Indonesian passports for the pilgrimage. The number of pilgrims to Mecca is restricted with certain quota.

They are now held in detention for the legal offense, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly said here on Monday. "We will seek to solve their problem and get them back home to Indonesia," Yasonna said .

The minister said he would coordinate with the Philippine authorities to investigate the case of falsification of identities, believed to be the work of a syndicate.

It was not the first time that Indonesians found using foreign passports for pilgrimage to the Islamic holy land. In mid last year, police arrested 37 people in Pare Pare , South Sulawesi, when seeking to go Mecca with unused Philippines quotas.

The case involving the 177 Indonesians is being investigated by the Philippine authorities as they used false identities and pretended to be Philippines, Yasonna said.

He said a syndicate is believed to be responsible for the falsification of documents involving both Indonesian and Philippine agents .

Earlier, Director of Protection for Indonesian Citizens and Indonesian Legal Agency (PWNI-BHI)Lalu Muhammad Iqbal said a team from the Indonesian embassy in Manila and the Indonesian Foreign Ministry have identified the 177 Indonesians, now held at the Immigration detention center in Manila.

They were reportedly paid around US$6,000 - US$10,000 per persons for the pilgrimage. This year Saudi Arabia gives Indonesia a pilgrim quota of 168,800 only reduced from more than 200,000 a year earlier due to the renovation works in Masjidil Haram.

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