MANAMA: Saudi Arabia is limiting registration for this year’s Haj pilgrimage to its own citizens and residents, as part of precautions taken to limit the spread of Covid-19 variants in the country.
The Saudi Haj and Umrah Ministry announced yesterday that only 60,000 Saudi citizens and residents will be allowed to register for the annual pilgrimage.
Only Saudi citizens and residents, aged between 18 and 65, who are free of chronic illnesses and either are fully-vaccinated, have received the first dose of the vaccine 14 days prior to the trip or have recovered from Covid-19, will be permitted to embark on the pilgrimage.
“This decision was made to guarantee the safety of Haj amid uncertainty over the coronavirus,” Saudi health minister Tawfiq Al Rabiah said during a televised Press conference.
“Despite the availability of vaccines, there is uncertainty over the virus and some countries still record high numbers of Covid-19 cases. The other challenge is the different variants of the virus, hence came the decision to restrict Haj.”
This is the second year in a row that Haj has been limited to only those within Saudi Arabia. Last year just 1,000 pilgrims from Saudi Arabia were able to attend.
In comparison, in 2019 around 2.5 million pilgrims visited Mecca to perform Haj, with a reported 150m pilgrims visiting the holy city over the past 10 years.
Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa affirmed Bahrain’s full support for Saudi Arabia’s decision.
He asserted that the decision aims primarily to preserve the Haj ritual and is in line with international requirements and standards to combat Covid-19.
The decision to limit Haj has had a devastating economic impact around the world, and especially in Bahrain where tour operators and travel agencies rely on the pilgrimage for a significant portion of their revenue.
“We barely survived the impact of last year’s shutdown, and with this announcement a second year in a row, I am not sure how we will be able to make it another year,” added Al Kadhem Transport Tourist Travels board vice-chairman and partner Mahmood Al Kadhem. “In 2019, we were able to take 120 exclusive clients on this holy pilgrimage, but last year and this year, we have been unable to take any.”
This is the second blow in as many months to tour operators after they saw a record-low number of passengers making the trip to Saudi Arabia during the Eid Al Fitr holidays in May.
The GDN reported in May that only 40 buses, each carrying 25 passengers were expected to embark on the Umrah pilgrimage during Eid Al Fitr – down from approximately 300 buses, each carrying 50 pilgrims.
While Umrah can be undertaken at any time of the year, Haj can only be performed during a specific period in the Islamic calendar year.
In response to the decision, MPs urged the government to put in a mechanism to compensate Haj tour operators for their financial losses.
“This sector is amongst the hardest hit by the pandemic,” MP and member of the Parliament services committee Ebrahim Al Nafaei said, in a statement.
“The Haj tour operators mostly work under issued licences instead of commercial registrations (CR), which has prevented them from benefiting from the stimulus package allocated by the government to support the business sector.
“They have families to look after, loans to repay and other financial obligations to meet, but these continued restrictions have had a devastating impact on their business. They should be included in the sectors being provided with financial relief to ensure their business survives this pandemic.”
&uuid=(email))