Govt announces Hajj application refunds

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of religious affairs has decided to return the amount deposited by the successful applicants under the government’s Hajj scheme for this year.

According to a statement issued by the ministry spokesperson, the decision was taken after Saudi Arabia’s announcement of holding Hajj 2020 with “a very limited number” pilgrims from among those already residing in the kingdom.

“An emergency meeting has been called to review the latest development during which the mechanism for the return of payments to those who had registered themselves for the government’s Hajj scheme would be discussed,” the statement read.

The spokesman further said that Saudi Minister for Hajj and Umrah Dr Mohammad Saleh bin Taher Benten telephoned his Pakistani counterpart, Pir Noorul Haq Qadri to inform him about the Kingdom’s decision to hold Hajj with a very limited number of pilgrims.

The Saudi government announced that it would bar arrivals from abroad for the Hajj. Pakistani envoy, diplomatic officials and the Pakistan Hajj Directorate in the kingdom would represent the country this year, it added.

Before the emergence of COVID-19, a total of 179,210 Pakistanis had registered themselves to perform Hajj this year. They included 107,526 intending pilgrims under the government scheme and 71,684 under the private scheme.

Saudi Arabia had a restricted number of Hajj pilgrims to 1,000 amid coronavirus outbreak. As per details, only Saudi nationals and expatriates of various nationalities will be allowed to perform Haj this year, which is scheduled to be held in late July this year.

The older pilgrims are not allowed to join the rituals due to avoid overcrowding in order to ensure the safety of pilgrims. The kingdom asked Haj applicants in March to put their Haj plans on hold and suspended Umrah until further notice.

The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia in a statement said that 3,393 new confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported today in the Kingdom, bringing the total number to 161,005 cases, including 54,523 active cases.

Of these, there are 2,045 critical cases, while the health condition of the rest is stable. As many as 4,045 cases have recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 105,175. The Ministry of Health also said that 40 new deaths have been reported, bringing the total deaths to 1,307.