Saudi to red list BD if 80pc of visa quota remains unfulfilled

Dhaka: Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said it will put the Bangladesh hajj office in the Kingdom on a red list if 80 per cent of the visa quota dedicated to Bangladesh remains unfulfilled by June 8.

As of June 6, a total of 94,800 visas for Bangladesh pilgrims were issued, which is 78 per cent of the quota.

In 2023, hajj will be held on June 27, depending on the sighting of the moon, and the hajj flight to carry pilgrims to Saudi Arabia began on May 21.

A total of 1,22,558 people from Bangladesh are expected to perform the pilgrimage in 2023 and till June 6, a total of 59,655 pilgrims reached Saudi Arabia from Bangladesh. Of them, 9,350 went to Saudi Arabia under government management and the rest under private management.

In a notification, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia informed that the hajj offices of some countries have already been red-listed. As a result, there is a lot of complexity in fulfilling the formalities of the pilgrimage for pilgrims coming to Saudi Arabia from those countries. In these cases, the respective countries will have to bear all the responsibilities and solve the complexities.

Zahirul Islam, Counsellor (Hajj) of the Bangladesh Hajj Office in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs informing them about this on June 5.

In this situation, the Hajj agencies conducting the Hajj activities have been requested to give instructions to complete all the activities on an urgent basis.

On June 6, after receiving the Hajj Counsellor's letter, the Ministry of Religious Affairs directed the 603 Hajj agencies conducting Hajj activities to ensure that 80 per cent of Hajj pilgrims receive visas by June 7.