Saudi open again for pilgrims from abroad
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Saudi Arabia will begin accepting vaccinated foreigners wanting to make the umrah pilgrimage, authorities said yesterday, a move that will boost an economy hit by the COVID pandemic.
Nearly 18 months after it closed its borders to battle the coronavirus, Saudi Arabia will from today begin “gradually receiving umrah requests from various countries,” the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The umrah can be undertaken at any time and usually draws millions from around the globe, unlike the annual hajj, which abled-bodied Muslims who have the means must perform at least once in their lifetime.
The COVID-19 pandemic hugely disrupted both Muslim pilgrimages, which are usually key revenue earners for the kingdom that rake in a combined US$12 billion annually.
Scaled-down hajj
Before yesterday’s announcement, only immunized pilgrims residing in Saudi Arabia were eligible for umrah permits.
And last month only around 60,000 inoculated residents were allowed to take part in a scaled-down form of the annual hajj.
But the kingdom is slowly opening up, and has started welcoming vaccinated foreign tourists since August 1.
Foreign pilgrims must be immunized with a Saudi-recognized vaccine — Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson — and agree to undergo quarantine if necessary, the SPA said quoting deputy hajj minister Abdulfattah bin Sulaiman Mashat.
He added that the kingdom was working on determining the destinations from which pilgrims can come and their numbers on a “periodic basis according to the classification of preventive measures” in those countries.
Barring overseas pilgrims has caused deep disappointment among Muslims, who typically save for years to take part.
“I feel relieved about the resumption of the umrah pilgrimage,” said Ahmed Hamadna, 33, a sales manager in Egypt.
But he said he was “concerned about the complex procedures and measures during the pandemic.”
Engineer Mohamad Ragab, an Australian resident, said he too was still “hesitant” about the umrah. “There will likely be crowds in Mecca and the chances of infection are high,” he said.
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