Saudi Arabia has again opened its doors for Bangladeshis to perform Umrah, but from now on only six authorised travel agencies will be allowed to send people to the pilgrimage.
Qasswa, the certified Umrah provider agency from the Saudi Arabian government, reached an agreement with six travel agencies of Bangladesh to resume the Umrah services from Bangladesh.
Addressing a press conference in the capital’s Banani, the visiting director of Qasswa, Riaj Mahmud, said only six agencies have initially been allowed send Bangladeshi pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for Umrah.
The six travel agencies are Bicon Travel Agency, Jumar Travel and Tours, Panbright Travels, Priyanka Travels, Heritage Air Express and Ali Air Travels & Tourist.
Meanwhile, the Religious Affairs Ministry cancelled licences of 69 travel agencies after an investigation found their involvement with illegal human trafficking to Saudi Arabia in the name of Umrah.
Talking to journalists in a press conference at the secretariat, Religious Affairs Minister Motiur Rahman said the security deposits of these 69 agencies have been seized, while 26 others have been issued different fines.
Sources said the accused travel agencies have been slapped with fines between Tk5 lakh to Tk2 crore.