Saudi Arabia to allow Umrah for foreigners from Sunday

Saudi Arabia will open the Umrah pilgrimage to Makkah for Muslims from other countries from Nov 1, Saudi media reported on Thursday, as the kingdom relaxes measures it had taken to check the spread of the coronavirus.

“The Umrah pilgrimage is allowed for Muslims from across the world,” Saudi state TV said, citing a statement from the Ministry of Pilgrimage. The Saudi-owned, Dubai-based TV channel Al-Arabiya said Umrah will be allowed from Nov 1.

The Hajj and Umrah ministry has issued guidelines for the service providers to the pilgrims from outside the kingdom. It said that the kingdom is honoured to “start receiving Umrah performers from outside the Kingdom for the third phase of gradual return of Umrah and visit starting from 01/11/2020”.

The kingdom is keen on the directives of the leadership to preserve human protection, especially during what the world is going through due to Covid-19, according to a report carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

“The ministry of Hajj and Umrah is working in coordination with other concerned authorities to create a safe and facilitated environment for the visitors throughout their journey, and coordination has been made with the national carrier, Saudia airline, to provide the necessary seat capacity,” SPA said.

The age group for Umrah performers from outside the kingdom had been restricted to 18 to 50 years, according to the requirements of the ministry of health along with the provision of a PCR examination certificate with a negative result, proving that the pilgrims were free from Covid-19.

On Thursday the health ministry reported 435 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the kingdom, bringing the total tally to 346,482, including 8,114 active cases. As many as 455 cases recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 333,005, the ministry said, adding that 15 new deaths were reported, bringing the total deaths to 5,363.

Umrah is a pilgrimage which can be undertaken at any time of the year, in contrast to Hajj, which has specific dates according to the Islamic lunar calendar.

Saudi Arabia closed its borders in February to foreign Umrah pilgrims, and in March stopped its own citizens and residents from taking part. In July, it allowed a limited number of domestic pilgrims to perform the Hajj.

With input from News Desk