Kuwait Haj quota remains at 8,000

Manama A Kuwaiti official has confirmed that Saudi Arabia has apologised to more than 40 countries for ruling out their requests to increase their Haj (pilgrimage) quota for this year.

“Kuwait is among the countries that have been officially told that the ongoing expansion projects in both Makkah and Madinah make it impossible to increase the Haj quotas,” the endowment and Islamic affairs ministry official told Kuwaiti Arabic daily Al Watan.

Kuwait in April made a request to the Saudi Haj ministry to increase its quota from 8,000 to 18,000, the official said.

An initial accord boosted Kuwait’s quota to 14,000 applicants – 10,000 Kuwaitis and 4,000 expatriates living in Kuwait. The agreement also stipulated that 1,250 stateless Arabs would be allowed to go to Makkah for Haj, the fifth pillar of Islam that must be performed at least once by all physically and financially capable Muslims.

However, Kuwait later received an apology from the Saudi authorities that the quota could not be increased and that last year’s figures would remain.

Kuwait officials are still working on securing an increase in the quota to enable the highest number of people to go to Haj, the official said.

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.

Officials said that the quota was introduced to ensure that the sacred grounds could accommodate the increasing number of pilgrims from across the world.

Unlike foreigners, Kuwaiti nationals do not need visas to enter Saudi Arabia under an agreement between the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — to waive restrictions on travel within the bloc for nationals. However, the GCC nationals need to register with a Haj agency to be able to enter Makkah during the Haj season.

Under Saudi Arabia’s laws, no 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, Saudi officials said.

Riyadh has also often reported that several Haj applicants overstay their pilgrimage visas and seek to settle in Saudi Arabia without proper documents.

Around three million people performed Haj last year.

Haj, based on the lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days, is expected to start on October 24-29 this year.