In the wake of over 1,100 deaths during this year’s hajj pilgrimage, the Egyptian Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, has removed operating licences from 16 tourism companies, referring their managers to the country’s public prosecutor and accusing them of arranging illegal trips to Mecca.
An annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, hajj is one of the five pillars, or fundamental religious duties, for Muslims and is supposed to be undertaken at least once in a lifetime. Yet, it is only possible to go to hajj as a registered pilgrim, in theory. Visitor countries are allocated quotas of pilgrims, in a measure intended to improve management of the massive event.
The outdoor rituals include thousands of people, walking and holding vigil for long hours, and though the timing varies according to the Islamic lunar calendar, in recent years they have taken place under the punishing Saudi summer sun.
Saudi estimates put this year’s attendance at 1.8 million, with 1.6 million of those boosting the Kingdom’s international arrival figures. But as the death toll of pilgrims exposed in temperatures reaching 50° C rose, questions began to be asked about the organisation of the hajj rite in Saudi Arabia and what services were being provided to exhausted pilgrims or those with existing medical conditions.
Saudi Arabia – Hajj pilgrimage causing probably over 600 deaths once full totals come in- You had to pay to get into air conditioning areas,which even so was not enough room pic.twitter.com/6clVSFUSKk
— MəanL¡LMə♡₩ (@MeanLILMeoW) June 18, 2024
By Friday, this had led to a quick defence, issued by Saudi officials, who pointed out medical services were available to all properly registered pilgrims, but not those who enter the Kingdom illegally under personal visit visas.
Skip forward to a review of the deaths suffered by Eygptian citizens – and their visa status. Egypt was given a quota of 35,000 pilgrims in 2022 and 2023, around 9th down the list of most hajj-going countries (Indonesia was top at 221,000 this year). So the fact that Egyptian victims numbered 658 among the 1,100 deaths – over half, is desperately disproportional. Why?
According to an Egyptian cabinet statement, a growth in demand for cheaper hajj travel has led to travel companies operating outside regulations, offering pilgrims what is essentially illegal entry to Saudi Arabia on a personal visit visa – a visa that, as heard before, denies them official recognition as a hajj pilgrim and access to hajj services.
630 of the Egyptian dead were unregistered as pilgrims. The rogue operators will now face prosecution and “a fine to benefit the families of the pilgrims who died because of them,” Egyptian authorities said.
