Saudi Arabia Postpones Decision To Raise Algerian Pilgrimage Quota

Saudi Arabia Hajj and Umrah (pilgrimage) Ministry postponed the decision on Algeria’s request to raise its quota to 41.000 pilgrims in the coming weeks, while the agreement was signed on new legal mechanisms to protect the rights of Algerian pilgrims, in case of disputes with Saudi dealers In the area of catering, hostelry, subsistence and security, Religious Affairs and Endowments Minister, Mohamed Issa, said.

The meeting, which was attended by the Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments, Mohamed Issa and the Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Muhammad Saleh Benten, concluded, on Friday evening, to the postponement of the decision on Algeria’s request to raise the pilgrims’ quota to 41,000 pilgrims in the coming weeks, and it is known that the quota of each country is determined according to the content of the agreement that is reached within the framework of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

In this context, Mohamed Issa said, in a publication on his official Facebook page, that he met, on Thursday, with his Saudi counterpart, Hajj and Umrah Minister, Muhammad Saleh Benten, and discussed with him the arrangements for the Hajj season 2018, and the new electronic means and expansion projects in Mina, asserting that the meeting was an opportunity to exchange views in order to improve the performance of the Algerian Hajj mission, and know the mechanisms of legal defense of the rights of Algerian pilgrims in case of differences with the dealers in the field of housing, subsistence, transport and the safety of pilgrims and their security as well.

“The meeting was attended by the Algerian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, the General Consul of Algeria in Jeddah and the General Manager of the National Office of Hajj and Umrah and officials from the Algerian State. The meeting was an opportunity to exchange congratulations on the quality of Algerian-Saudi relationships, love and respect between the two brotherly peoples”.

On the other hand, the Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments, upon his arrival to Saudi Arabia, reviewed the offers of catering companies that submitted offers to contract with Algerian pilgrims for the 2018 Hajj season, in the presence of the officially accredited travel agencies to organize the Hajj, where he was briefed on the Saudi offers, especially the extent of their compatibility with the health requirements and the Algerian cuisine culture that are imposed by the book of conditions, before embarking on negotiations and contracting with hotels in the holy sites.

The Minister met with officials of the Saudi Ministry of Hakk, in the presence of the director of the Algerian Hajj Office, Youssef Azzouza, to discuss ways of framing the Algerian mission, especially with regard to housing, subsistence, transportation, safety and security of pilgrims, in order to avoid the past year’s abuses that were committed by Saudi dealers against the Algerian mission, which prompted the Saudi Ministry of Hajj Saudi Arabia to impose sanctions against them, and the issuance of  Azzouza services of the regulation to prevent travel agencies to deal with the dealers who broke their contracts with the Algerian party.