Bangladesh is no longer at risk of being placed red listed as the 85% Hajj pilgrims received their visas.
Earlier, the Saudi Arabian Hajj and Umrah Ministry warned that if Bangladesh's visa allotment is not completed by Thursday, it will be placed on a red list.
Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB) President M Shahadat Hossain Taslim said: “There is no more complication with visas. Already 85% of visas have been done.”
In a notification, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia said 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, the notice said.
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 Monday.
The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah of the Royal Saudi Government informed Bangladesh that 80% of the visas must be completed by Wednesday. In this situation, the Hajj agencies conducting the Hajj activities were requested to give instructions to complete all the activities on an urgent basis
On Tuesday, after receiving the Hajj Counsellor's letter, the Ministry of Religious Affairs directed the 603 Hajj agencies conducting Hajj activities to ensure that 80% of Hajj pilgrims receive visas by Wednesday.
Director of Hajj office in Ashkona Saiful Islam said: "Saudi Arabia gives Hajj visa. All pilgrims will get a visa. The Saudi authorities want to speed up the process. This is why they warned. We will implement that."
Hajj will be held on June 27 subject to moon sighting. This year 1,22,558 people from Bangladesh will participate in Hajj. Some 59,655 pilgrims will arrive in Saudi from Bangladesh till June 6. Out of this, 9,350 pilgrims are under government management and 50,305 pilgrims in private management.
Hajj flights from Bangladesh started on May 21 and will continue till June 22.