Pakistan to start flight operation this week to bring Hajj pilgrims back

ISLAMABAD – Repatriation of more than 83,000 Pakistani Hajj pilgrims from Saudi Arabia will begin on Thursday (July 14).– Photo courtesy Haramain Sharifain (Twitter)

ISLAMABAD – After performing the stoning ritual at Jamarat on Monday, most Hajj pilgrims will perform Tawaaf al Wada and leave either for Madinah or their homes today.

However, repatriation of more than 83,000 Pakistani Hajj pilgrims from Saudi Arabia will begin on Thursday (July 14).

Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs says the flight operation to bring the Hajj pilgrims home would continue till August 13 without any break.

Officials of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan will welcome the Hajj pilgrims on arrival at different airports of the country and give every pilgrim a five-litre sacred water can before leaving the airport.

Authorities organising Hajj in Saudi Arabia have been reluctant to invite local as well as foreign pilgrims to perform Hajj since outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019.

However, they decided to allow a limited number of people from every country to perform Hajj this year.

All pilgrims allowed to perform Hajj this year were under the age of 65 and were fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

Initially, Saudi authorities had allocated Pakistan a quota of 81,132 pilgrims, but later allowed 2,000 more people to perform Hajj this year, taking the total number of Pakistani Hajj pilgrims to 83,132.

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