Staff Correspondent:

Two recent decisions by the Saudi government are likely to invite sufferings for Hajj pilgrims under private arrangements this year.

The authorities in Saudi Arabia mandated that this year, each Hajj agency must send a minimum of 1,000 pilgrims, up from the previous requirement of 250. Besides, individuals under the age of 15 have been barred from performing Hajj this time.

Around 600 underage pilgrims have already completed registrations for Hajj and deposited money, before the announcement of the decisions. The agencies are now facing mounting pressure from both the depositors and the government to refund, while the funds are already used for various purposes.

Meanwhile, the religious affairs ministry is facing growing criticism as it agreed with the Saudi authorities over the decisions.

Habibullah Muhammad Qutubuddin, proprietor of Qutub Hajj Travels and a member of the Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB), said the ministry is exerting pressure on agencies to refund deposits of the underage pilgrims and, at the same time, insisting to replace them with pre-registered pilgrims.

“Where will we find the pre-registered pilgrims at this stage? Besides, the lion’s share of the deposits collected from the child pilgrims went to the Saudi government, and the rest was used for house rent and some other arrangements. How we will refund what we do not yet have back,” he noted.

Individuals concerned feared that the new restrictions by the Saudi government may result in various challenges. The pilgrims may suffer for accommodation, transportation, food, and healthcare during the Hajj. The 1,000-pilgrim quota per agency may lead to deprivation of the pilgrims from quality services.

According to the religious affairs ministry, a total of 87,100 Bangladeshis – 81,900 under private arrangements and 5,200 under government – are expected to perform Hajj this year. Due to the new quota, only 70 lead agencies are dealing with nearly 82,000 pilgrims.

Sources at HAAB noted that the number of registered agencies is 753 this year, but only 70 of them are serving all the private pilgrims due to the quota obligation. Individuals concerned with the process described it as a very challenging job.

“The Saudi government determined the quota after the registration process was completed, creating an extremely uncomfortable situation for us,” said HAAB secretary general Farid Ahmed Majumder. “There were no guidelines from our religious affairs ministry in this regard. The ministry guidelines allow an agency to handle at least 100 to 300 pilgrims. Now, the minimum threshold is 1,000. It gives rise to a question – what will be the quality of service to the pilgrims?”

LEAD AGENCIES

In the face of the new decisions, smaller agencies have to partner with larger ones to meet the minimum quota. Three to five smaller agencies are grouping into a ‘lead agency’ and sending pilgrims as a single entity. It was learned that the Saudi authorities are processing documents of the 81,900 pilgrims under private arrangements through the 70 lead agencies.

Hafizur Rahman, owner of Hazari Hajj Tours and Travels, said all want to send pilgrims under their agency’s banner and are willing to become lead agencies. “In such a circumstance, we determined the lead agencies through a lottery system. This year, 188 pilgrims will go through my agency, and we have partnered with four others to meet the 1,000-pilgrim quota.”

Hajj service providers and insiders said the Saudi government determined the quota to reduce workloads or complications, as they struggle to deal with a higher number of agencies.

However, individuals concerned with Hajj management blamed negligence of religious affairs ministry officials in Dhaka and Saudi Arabia for the new decisions. They believe that the ongoing crisis is the result of mismanagement, irregularities, and a lack of accountability among those responsible for overseeing Hajj operations.