3 Conditions Deprive Algerians Of Performing Pilgrimage

Tourism and travel agencies made it difficult for Algerians to perform the Hajj this year due to the strict conditions imposed by the Saudi authorities on arrivals from outside the Kingdom, preceded by the obligation to submit to a second dose of the Corona vaccine, and Algeria’s failure to update the list of winners in the lottery 2020, and the non-movement of the National Office for Hajj and Umrah to the holy places to negotiate with the Saudis as well, indications that confirm – according to them – that there is no pilgrimage for Algerians this season.

An expert in the field of tourism and the owner of a travel agency, Ali Menacer, ruled out that Algerians will perform the Hajj rituals this season, based on the exceptional measures released by the Saudi authorities for those wishing to perform Hajj in 2021 coming from outside the Kingdom.

Menacer to Echorouk that for the second year in a row, the pilgrims who won the lottery in 2020 would not be able to perform the fifth pillar of Islam due to the health measures imposed by the Saudi authorities against the background of the repercussions of the Corona epidemic.

“The conditions set by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia can be placed in the category of “impossible”, especially concerning the necessity for the pilgrim to have received two doses of the Corona vaccine recognized by the World Health Organization before travelling to the holy places, which is not available to Algerian pilgrims, given the nature of the “course” of the national vaccination campaign, which we can describe as “late”.

Among the indications, according to the expert in the tourism field, that the Hajj season for this year will be “white” for Algerians is the lack of a lot for pilgrims because the list of winners of the 2020 lottery must be updated, especially since the Saudi authorities have set the age of the pilgrim from 18 to 60 years.

Although the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowments, which supervises the Hajj and Umrah process in coordination with the National Bureau for Hajj and Umrah, has not yet confirmed that the Hajj will not be launched this season for Algerian pilgrims, similar to the previous year, but the initial reports, according to Ali Menacer, confirm that the mission concerned with contracting with the Saudis did not leave the homeland to negotiate with Saudi dealers about housing, subsistence and transportation, as it used to do in previous seasons.

On the other hand, the expert in the field of tourism believes that talking about the performance of Algerians for Umrah and Hajj will be after June 2021, a period that coincides with the end of preparation for the Hajj rituals, because the epidemiological situation and the circumstances surrounding the process of organizing this season collide with several obstacles, including the financial circumstances that travel agencies live in the country, in addition to the high cost due to the measures imposed, such as the PCR testing, and it is known that the Saudi authorities released last week the conditions that must be respected by those wishing to perform the rituals of Hajj this season, whether for pilgrims in the Kingdom or those coming from other countries, the measures that have been described as strict and difficult to prevent the spread of the Corona epidemic among pilgrims.