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Saudi plans tripling of Umrah visas: reports

Hajj Minister says as many as 1.25 million pilgrims are expected to arrive each month starting next year

Afp October 12, 2015

Pilgrims during the Hajj in Makkah. PHOTO: AFP

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is planning to triple the number of visas it issues for Umrah, reports said on Monday, less than three weeks after a deadly Hajj stampede.

The Saudi Gazette and Okaz newspapers quoted Hajj Minister Bandar al Hajjar as saying that as many as 1.25 million pilgrims are expected to arrive each month starting next year. That compares with 400,000 a month now, the reports said.

Read: This year's Hajj stampede deadliest in history

Hajjar was quoted as saying the new system would allow full use of massive expansion projects at the kingdom's Holy sites.

Umrah can be carried out any time during the year. The Hajj pilgrimage, which all Muslims with the means are expected to complete at least once, this year drew about two million faithful.

The number had declined, particularly because of a multi-billion-dollar expansion which began four years ago at the Grand Mosque in Makkah.

The 400,000-square-metre (4.3-million-square-feet) Grand Mosque enlargement is the equivalent of more than 50 football pitches, and it will allow the complex to accommodate roughly two million people at once.

A crane working on the expansion collapsed into a courtyard of the mosque on September 11, killing at least 108 people, including foreign pilgrims, just before Hajj.

Read: Saudi religious leader denounces 'lies' after Hajj tragedy

An even greater tragedy, the worst ever in the history of the pilgrimage, occurred on September 24 during a stoning ritual at Mina, near Makkah.

The stampede killed at least 1,535 people, according to tallies issued by foreign officials in more than 30 countries.

The toll greatly exceeds the toll of 769 provided by Saudi Arabia.
A formal Saudi inquiry is under way into the stampede.

COMMENTS (6)

I am a Khan | 8 years ago | Reply @Israr: Saudis are becoming intelligent. Good. @Parvez: In case you do not know, its the Saudis Oil Minister that deliberately made the oil price crash to crush American Shale Oil. Shale is so expensive to extract, that at low prices it becomes unfeasible to extract it. On the other hand Saudi oil is easy and cheap to extract and can survive low oil prices...

Israr | 8 years ago | Reply @Rafidi @Parvez Besides all the factors you guys mentioned, there is also the problem of overcrowding during Hajj, evident from the recent tragedies. I think they are going to reduce the number of Hajj visas and the lost revenue will be more than made up from Umrah visas. It is much easier and makes more business sense to manage a larger number of people any time all through the year than having a very big spike during Hajj days only (which means huge facilities designed for use in 3-4 weeks of the year are only partially utilised during the rest of the year).