Makassar. Syamsinar, a resident of Parepare, South Sulawesi, recounts her harrowing experience during this year's Hajj pilgrimage. Instead of a spiritual journey, she found herself evading the police in Saudi Arabia.

Syamsinar is among hundreds of Hajj pilgrims from Sidrap Regency, South Sulawesi, who were denied entry upon arrival at King Abdul Aziz Airport on June 14 for using visit visas instead of the required Hajj visas.

The 203 pilgrims from Sidrap, eager to fulfill their religious duties in Mecca, were thus unable to proceed with their journey.

Upon arrival in Saudi Arabia, Syamsinar and her fellow pilgrims were not provided with the promised facilities by their travel agency. Instead, they faced the bitter reality of being scammed. Syamsinar, along with other pilgrims, claimed they were abandoned upon arrival in Saudi Arabia.

The travel agency had promised them hajj visas, but what they received were multiple-entry or visit visas. Syamsinar had to constantly avoid the police in Saudi Arabia.

"This is a multiple-entry visa. When we asked for the visa, they always covered the biometric information, so we didn’t know what type of visa it was," Syamsinar told Beritasatu.com on Thursday.

Syamsinar only discovered that the visa provided by the travel agency was a multiple-entry visa upon arriving at the airport or shortly before the flight to Jakarta. Even the name tags they received were incorrect.

"This was a long journey, from Makassar to Jakarta, from Jakarta to Qatar, from Qatar to Riyadh, and then from Riyadh to Medina. It was still safe in Medina," she said.

Syamsinar protested to the travel agency because the promised eight days of preparation in Medina turned out to be only five days. When she complained to the travel agency, they retaliated by making a video of her, stating she was forbidden to enjoy the facilities provided by the travel agency.

"I am a victim because I feel cheated and wronged. They even made a video of me, forbidding me from eating the travel food and enjoying the travel facilities. Yet I paid in full one month before departure," Syamsinar lamented.

Upon returning to Indonesia, Syamsinar and several other pilgrims reported the Al Hijrah travel agency in Barru, South Sulawesi, to the police for alleged fraud.

"When we returned, some of us who passed through Barru stopped at the Barru Police Station. We have already reported it. My hope is that there are no more victims," she said.

The Indonesian Religious Affairs Ministry has strictly prohibited its citizens from embarking on the Hajj pilgrimage without the proper Hajj visas.  Violations could lead to severe penalties including fines, deportation, and bans from returning to Saudi Arabia for up to 10 years.