http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=65981&d=27&m=6&y=2005
Monday, 27, June, 2005 (20, Jumada al-Ula, 1426)
Umrah Firms Face Tougher Visa Rules
P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News
JEDDAH, 27 June 2005 - Saudi Arabia yesterday announced
measures to monitor the arrival of Umrah pilgrims in order to prevent their
overstaying in the country. "According to the Umrah plan for this year, a
limited number of visas will be issued to each service company. New visas will
not be issued to a company until it has made sure that the previous group has
left," Haj Minister Fouad Al-Farsy said.
He said the new measure was taken in order to prevent
overstaying and he urged Umrah service providers in the Kingdom and abroad to
take steps to ensure their pilgrims left the country after performing their
religious duty. Al-Farsy warned that the ministry would not allow any firms
which are negligent in this regard to continue in business. "We will stop their
services and take punitive measures against them," the Saudi Press Agency
quoted the minister as saying. The ministry can easily discover whether the
pilgrims have returned by using a computer system, which has been installed at
airports and other entry points. "We can find out the position of each company
from computer data," he added.
The government took the new measure as a result of growing
numbers of Umrah pilgrims. More than five million pilgrims from inside and
outside Saudi Arabia perform Umrah every year, with the largest contingent
arriving during Ramadan.
"The government has set out a system to organize Umrah
traffic as pilgrims arrive, move around and leave the Kingdom according to a
pre-planned program," the minister said, adding that any delay and problem
would have a negative impact on their comfort and convenience.
Al-Farsy said the ministry would follow up the performance of
Umrah service companies within the Kingdom and abroad to know the measures they
have taken to prevent overstaying and improve pilgrim services.
The ministry has signed a contract with Al-Tasheel
Al-Haditha, a Jeddah-based company, to receive pilgrims at airports, seaports
and other entry points and return them there. Officials of Tasheel collect the
pilgrims' passports and tickets on arrival, take pictures of the documents by
video camera, enter the data in a computer system and distribute photocopies to
the Haj Ministry, the Passports Department and other authorities.
The officials later hand over passports and tickets to
pilgrim service agents, who eventually return the passports to the pilgrims
while keeping the pilgrims' tickets until the day of their departure.
The new system has been adopted to prevent pilgrims from
overstaying. Many Umrah performers who come with the intention of staying in
the Kingdom for jobs do so despite the new measures. They do not return to
their Saudi agents to get their tickets.
But many pilgrims who come individually for Umrah have
complained about the new system, saying it caused them much trouble and
inconvenience. First, they have to wait for at least two hours for their
passports. Sometimes, pilgrims complained about missing passports and tickets
as they are not properly safeguarded. Pilgrims face tension at the time of
their return journey as on many occasions, the agents arrive late at the
airport. Many pilgrims have requested the Saudi authorities to review the
system as they fear it will damage the Kingdom's reputation.
As many as three million Umrah pilgrims are expected this
year. Saudi Arabian Airlines has set out a plan to transport nearly two million
Umrah pilgrims from 86 locations.
Economists predict that Umrah revenue during the next 10
years will reach SR30 billion with the number of foreign Umrah performers
expected to reach five million in 2012.
According to estimates, the average expense per Umrah
performer is SR3,000, 25 percent of which is for accommodation. The area around
the Grand Mosque in Makkah has seen many residential projects where rents are
between SR100 and SR150 a day for hotels and SR25 and SR95 for furnished
apartments.
"These are low prices and the reason is that Umrah companies
do not market Umrah programs properly throughout the year and so we have the
highest occupancy only in Ramadan and Haj," said a hotel employee. He said the
area could easily accommodate two million Umrah visitors a month rather than
the barely 50,000 they receive now.
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Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg
Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.org
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