by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Jeddah : Saudi Arabia and Pakistan on Sunday signed the bilateral Hajj agreement for the year 2019. Minister of Hajj and Umrah Mohammed Saleh Benten and visiting Pakistan Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Pir Noorul Haq Qadri signed the agreement at the minister’s office in Makkah.
Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr. Abdulfattah Bin Sulaiman Mashat, Secretary for Hajj Affairs Hussain Sherif and other senior officials from the Saudi side while Religious Affairs Secretary Muhammed Mushtaq Ahmad and Director General of Hajj Dr. Sajid Yousfani from the Pakistani side attended the discussions held prior to the signing of the agreement.
As part of the Kingdom’s initiative to sign annual bilateral Hajj agreements with Islamic countries, the Hajj minister received the Pakistani delegation, according to a statement issued by the ministry.
Minister Benten also received the delegation from Jordan, headed by Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Minister Abdul Nasser Abul Bassal.
The visiting ministers commended the Hajj arrangements made by Saudi Arabia and hailed the services being offered by Kingdom to pilgrims, the statement added.
The Pakistani minister said the effective usage of technology has significantly eased the performance of the Hajj ritual. The Hajj quota for Pakistan for the year 2019 will be 184,210, which is an increase of 5,000, compared with last year’s 179,210.
Pakistan is set to implement E-Hajj visa program from the next season. Pakistan will be included in the Makkah Road scheme to implement Proof of Concept (POC) system for pre-clearance at the Karachi airport, said a senior Pakistan official.
The POC system enables immigration checks in home countries at the time of departure, instead of upon arrival in the Kingdom. The scheme known as the Makkah Road significantly reduces the waiting time for pilgrims at the Saudi airports upon arrival.
The official said 35,000 pilgrims from the Sindh province would be covered in the first phase of the scheme, which will be expanded to other parts of the country subsequently, the official said.
—AG/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Jeddah : The number of Hajj pilgrims coming from outside Saudi Arabia since the beginning of the Hajj season until the end of Tuesday reached 1,570,054 pilgrims.
According to the statistics issued by the General Directorate of Passports, this represents a decrease of 15,183 or about 1 percent, compared to the number of pilgrim arrivals during the same period last year.
The General Directorate of Passports reported that the number of pilgrims coming by air reached 1,473,659 pilgrims, by land 80,569 and by sea 15,826.
—AB/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Jakarta : The Saudi Arabian authorities have allowed Indonesia`s customs to check Hajj pilgrims` identity by using biometrics in home country`s embarkation, according to Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs Lukman Hakim Saifuddin.
Saifuddin believes that the arrangement will cut queues during security check-in Saudi Arabia. “All this time, our Hajj pilgrims should wait for hours to queue, both in Jeddah or Madinah airport, now it can be checked in our Hajj embarkation,” he said here on Saturday.
The Minister was thankful for Indonesian government`s effort in convincing Saudi`s customs to permit such policy to improve security system`s efficiency.
By using biometrics in the Hajj dormitory, the Indonesian customs will verify each pilgrim`s fingerprints and iris scans, as well as travel documents. Hence, they just need to queue for passport stamp upon arrival in Saudi Arabia.
Besides cutting queues, Saifuddin said such system will allow Indonesian Hajj pilgrims to have more time to rest after a long hour flight.
In near future, the biometrics system will be fully regulated in 18 Hajj embarkation points in Indonesia.
—AG/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Makkah : The number of pilgrims arriving in Saudi Arabia via air, land and sea entry points until Friday reached 1.07 million, an increase of 204,302, or 24 percent, compared to the same period last year.
The numbers of pilgrims arriving by air, land and sea were 1.015 million, 50,554 and 4,915 respectively, according to data released by the General Directorate of Passports.
On Sunday, the number of pilgrims arriving in Madinah stood at 32,468, while those leaving the city for Makkah reached 24,073, according to the National Guides Establishment in Madinah.
The number of pilgrims who remained in Madinah up to Sunday evening reached 201,101, compared to 175,676 in the same period last year.
Presiding over a meeting on Civil Defense plans for Hajj, the Director-General of the Civil Defense General Sulaiman Al-Amr emphasised the importance of raising the sense of security, and of not tolerating any excesses or violations of safety requirements.
The commander of Civil Defense forces for Hajj Maj. Gen. Hamad bin Abdul Aziz Al-Mubaddal, gave a visual presentation on the Civil Defense’s preparations and plans, and the readiness and positioning of forces at the holy sites.
—SM/IINA
