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Saudi Arabia has required would-be hajj pilgrims from many Western nations to use for visas by way of a authorities portal on-line, a transfer meant to crack down on “pretend” journey companies, officers advised AFP on Monday.
The brand new system was put in place as the dominion prepares to welcome 850,000 Muslims from overseas for the annual hajj after two years throughout which pilgrims not already in Saudi Arabia have been barred due to Covid pandemic restrictions.
It applies to the USA, Canada, the UK, Europe and Australia, stated one of many officers, who spoke on situation of anonymity.
Beforehand, pilgrims might register by way of journey companies that organised hajj journeys, a system that typically led to scams, with “pretend companies” making off with victims’ cash, a second official stated.
Saudi Arabia introduced in April it might allow a million Muslims from inside and outdoors the nation to take part on this yr’s hajj.
State media introduced the web portal every week in the past, and the registration interval ended Monday, the hajj ministry stated on Twitter.
Those that registered will likely be included in a lottery for hajj visas.
One official who spoke to AFP acknowledged that some Muslims within the affected nations might have already tried to register by way of journey companies, earlier than the web portal was introduced.
He stated they might even be included within the lottery — which has not been scheduled — offered they’d booked by way of an company accredited by the hajj ministry.
One of many 5 pillars of Islam, the hajj should be undertaken by all Muslims who’ve the means at the least as soon as of their lives.
It consists of a collection of non secular rites which are accomplished over 5 days in Islam’s holiest metropolis, Mecca, and surrounding areas of western Saudi Arabia.
It is because of start in early July, and the primary batch of international pilgrims since earlier than the Covid-19 pandemic arrived from Indonesia simply over every week in the past.
– Masks guidelines –
The pandemic has vastly disrupted Muslim pilgrimages, that are normally key income earners for Saudi Arabia, bringing in some $12 billion yearly.
Internet hosting the hajj is a matter of status and a strong supply of legitimacy for Saudi rulers.
In 2021, the coronavirus outbreak pressured Saudi authorities to dramatically downsize the hajj for a second yr, and simply 60,000 totally vaccinated residents and residents of the dominion took half.
This yr’s pilgrimage will likely be restricted to vaccinated Muslims underneath the age of 65, the hajj ministry has stated.
These coming from outdoors Saudi Arabia are required to submit a damaging Covid-19 PCR outcome from a check taken inside 72 hours of journey.
Saudi Arabia stated Monday it might not require masks in most enclosed areas, citing progress in combating the pandemic.
Nonetheless, masks will nonetheless be required in Mecca’s Grand Mosque, which surrounds the Kaaba, in the direction of which Muslims pray, and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, the place Prophet Mohammed is buried, in line with a report printed Monday by the official Saudi Press Company, citing an inside ministry supply.
House owners of institutions may insist masks be worn if they need, the report stated, although mask-wearing has been sparsely enforced in current months.
Because the begin of the pandemic, Saudi Arabia has registered greater than 778,000 coronavirus instances, greater than 9,100 of them deadly, in a inhabitants of some 34 million.
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