Travel Yalla News asks: Who is following up on the affairs of Egyptian Umrah pilgrims in Mecca and Medina?
By Akram Medhat
Although more than 350,000 Egyptian Umrah pilgrims have traveled to the Holy Land since the start of the 1440 AH Umrah season in mid-November 2018, a season that is now nearing its end with only the Ramadan Umrah remaining, the Ministry of Tourism has not sent any mission to represent it in Mecca or Medina, as is customary and as it did in previous years.
The question Travel Yalla News raises is: who is following up on the affairs of Egyptian Umrah pilgrims in the Holy Land, given the absence of the Ministry of Tourism's committees without any reason and the neglect of those in charge of this file at the ministry? And who is monitoring tourism companies' compliance with implementing their programs there, especially during the peak of the season in the months of Rajab and Sha'ban?
This is despite the fact that the Umrah regulations approved for the current season by the Higher Committee for Hajj and Umrah, headed by Magdy Shalaby, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Tourism and head of the Tourism Companies Sector, include provisions for the presence of Ministry of Tourism committees at the mission's headquarters in both Mecca and Medina. These committees are to receive from tourism companies' supervisors a list of data on Egyptian Umrah pilgrims in the Holy Land within 48 hours of their arrival, with each supervisor registering his mobile number with the mission and committing to follow up on sick pilgrims, complete the procedures for missing-person cases and immediately notify the mission through various means of communication.
The ministry's committees in Saudi territory are also to be notified if the Saudi agent breaches the accommodation specified for pilgrims in the program, via the mission's official email or on WhatsApp numbers, which have not been announced so far. These missions are therefore responsible for monitoring companies' compliance with implementing the programs contracted with Egyptian Umrah pilgrims.
In addition, telephone numbers have not been sent out as is customary every year so that companies or pilgrims can contact members of the ministry's mission in the event of any obstacle, problem or complaint. Consequently, the delay in the mission's travel has left pilgrims feeling that they lack their main source of support or a body to turn to with complaints about breaches of the trip program.
Travel Yalla News has learned that the Ministry of Tourism has so far received more than 50 complaints from Umrah pilgrims who performed the rituals and returned home, which could have been avoided had the ministry's mission been present in Saudi Arabia, as it used to resolve many problems on the ground and document complaints in person.
The missions used to travel every 15 days and included representatives of the Ministry of Tourism, with a fixed, announced headquarters and a sign placed in a clearly visible spot indicating the mission's headquarters in both cities. Al-Shuhada Hotel is the recognized headquarters in Mecca, and there is a sign on Ajyad Street at the mission's headquarters, but pilgrims find no one there when they visit.
It is worth noting that the Umrah season regulations set the maximum total number of visas targeted per season at 500,000, with 80%, or 400,000 visas, to be issued from the start of the season until the end of Sha'ban, with 7 Ramadan as the deadline for the return of that period's trips, and 20%, or 100,000 visas, during Ramadan, with 14 Shawwal as the deadline for return.
