Saudi Arabia announced today that it will allow 1 million Muslims from within and outside the country to participate in this year’s pilgrimage.
Saudi Arabia’s decision means a sharp increase in the number of pilgrims, which has drastically decreased over the past two years due to pandemic restrictions.
Announcing that “1 million pilgrims, both domestic and foreign, have been given permission to perform the pilgrimage this year,” the Ministry of Hajj noted that the pilgrimage to be held in July will be limited to pilgrim candidates under the age of 65 who have completed their vaccinations.
Candidates for pilgrims from outside Saudi Arabia will also be required to prove that they have received a negative PCR test within 72 hours of their arrival in the country.
Approximately 2.5 million people participated in Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, in 2019.
But after the start of the pandemic in 2020, Saudi authorities only allowed a thousand people to join the pilgrimage. The following year, the number of pilgrim candidates was increased to 60 thousand people. These candidates, determined by the lottery, had to have completed their Corona virus vaccines.
In today’s ministry statement, it was stated that the Saudi Arabian government wants to ensure the safety of the pilgrims while “ensure the maximum number of Muslims worldwide to make the pilgrimage.”
Before the pandemic, pilgrimage tourism was a major source of income for the kingdom, bringing in around $12 billion a year. Restrictions in 2020 and 2021 created resentment among Muslims who could not go on pilgrimage abroad.
According to Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health data, more than 751,000 positive cases have been recorded so far in the kingdom with a population of approximately 34 million; 9 thousand 55 people lost their lives.
In early March, Saudi Arabia announced the removal of most restrictions, such as social distancing in public places and the quarantine requirement for vaccinated people to enter the country. This decision is expected to facilitate the entry of pilgrim candidates into the country.
The decision includes the suspension of “social distancing measures in all open and closed places”, including mosques. Masks are now mandatory in Saudi Arabia only indoors.