Cairo: More than 1 million pilgrims have already arrived in Saudi Arabia for this month’s Hajj pilgrimage, a Saudi official has said, as the kingdom has lifted epidemic-related restrictions.
The figure included around 25,000 pilgrims who arrived on land trips in the kingdom, added Mohammed Al Bijawi, the undersecretary of the Saudi Ministry of Hajj.
“The kingdom has opened all its border ports to facilitate the pilgrims’ arrival,” he told Saudi TV Al Ekhbariya. “All ports are ready and prepared to receive more arrivals.”
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Some 718,000 pilgrims from different nationalities have arrived in the Saudi holy city of Medina so far for the upcoming Hajj rites, according to official figures.
They included 25,962 who arrived on Saturday aboard flights landing at the Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz airport in Medina.
Around 556,953 pilgrims of the total have departed Medina for the holy city of Mecca, home to Islam’s holiest site.
Saudi Arabia has said there will be no limits on the numbers of pilgrims from around the world for the upcoming Hajj season, reversing earlier restrictions prompted by the global pandemic.
In the past two years, Saudi Arabia curtailed the numbers of Muslims allowed to perform Hajj to prevent spread of COVID-19.
Around 2.5 million Muslims used to attend Hajj annually in the pre-pandemic times.
Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s two holiest sites, has put its Hajj-related agencies on maximum alert this year to ensure comfort for the large numbers of pilgrims who continue to arrive ahead of the rites.
As part of facilities, Saudi Arabia is implementing the “Mecca Route” initiative that gives pilgrims from several countries access to facilities including finalising Hajj-related procedures in their home countries.
The initiative kicked off on a trial basis in 2017.
It is applied this year to pilgrims from seven countries, namely, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Morocco, Bangladesh, Turkiye and Cote d’Ivoire.
According to this project, facilities offered to pilgrims include issuance of electronic visas at home, finalising passport procedures as well as tagging and sorting out luggage at the departure airports. On arrival in Saudi Arabia, those pilgrims head directly to their residences in Makkah and Medina while their luggage are delivered right to their residences.
