Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has told the Bangladesh hajj office located in the country that the hajj office concerned will be put on a red list if 80% of the visa quota dedicated to Bangladesh is not fulfilled by Thursday.
As of Tuesday, a total of 94,800 visas for Bangladesh pilgrims were issued, which is 78% of the quota. This year, the hajj will be held on June 27, depending on the sighting of the moon, and the hajj flight to carry pilgrims to Saudi Arabia will begin on May 21.
A total of 1,22,558 people from Bangladesh are expected to perform the pilgrimage this year and till Tuesday, 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 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 has informed Bangladesh that 80% of the visas must be completed by Wednesday.
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 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."
