Manama: Saudi authorities have turned back 95,400 people who were attempting to reach Makkah illegally to perform Haj.
“Those who were told to go back came from various regions of the Kingdom, but did not have official permits in accordance with the regulations governing the entry of pilgrims through terrestrial crossings,” Khalid Al Harbi, commander of the Haj Security Forces, said.
Under Haj rules, anyone who wants to enter Makkah for the annual ritual must have an official permit.
The number of vehicles that were denied entry into Makkah for lack of permits was 47,700, he added.
The figures cover the period from July 18 until August 12.
Al Harbi said that the security forces were fully ready to deal with violations and non-compliance of the rules.
“While we are ready to serve all pilgrims, we will not allow anyone or anything to disrupt the Haj rituals. We will be strict with those who arrive without the permits and with those who transport them [pilgrims] without making sure they have valid documents. We will refer them to the competent authorities to apply sanctions against them,” he said, quoted by Saudi daily Okaz on Tuesday.
The tracking of violators will go beyond the Makkah entry points, he warned.
“The security forces will monitor the situation at the holy sites and on the paths leading to them. We will carry out random checks that include fingerprinting. And we will use the network of surveillance cameras.” he added.
Saudi Arabia has been following a very strict policy with regards to the number of people living in the kingdom who can perform Haj in a bid to provide better chances for those who have never performed the annual rituals and to control numbers in order to avoid excess crowds.
Last week, authorities warned that any Saudi Arabian expatriates who attempted to perform Haj without permit would be deported and denied entry into the kingdom for 10 years.
A Haj quota was introduced in 1987 following an agreement by all member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that the number of pilgrims allowed by each country would be 0.1 per cent of its population. Every country has a Haj quota of 1,000 pilgrims per million Muslim citizens.
Under Saudi Arabia’s laws, no foreign Haj applicant can enter the country if he or she is not registered with a tour operator.
The rule is in place to ensure there are no clandestine operations or the smuggling of people into the country on the pretext of performing Haj. Riyadh has also often reported that several pilgrims overstayed their pilgrimage visas and sought to settle in Saudi Arabia without proper documents.
Islam requires physically fit adult Muslims with the necessary financial means to perform Haj at least once in their lives.
According to figures released by the General Directorate for Passports, 675,143 had arrived by Sunday to perform Haj.
The overwhelming majority, 663,860, arrived by air, 10,796 by land and 487 by sea.
Haj, based on the lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days, is expected to start on August 30.
