Pakistan among nine countries denied entry to Saudi Arabia for Umrah, claims Minister

Pakistan Federal Religious Affairs Minister Noor ul Haq Qadri has claimed that the country is still one of the nine countries devotees from where have been barred from entering the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) for the Umrah pilgrimage. The minister on the ARY News show "Bakhabar Savera" said that nine Pakistani pilgrims from nine states were denied entrance. He claimed that the country is still one of the nine nations not permitted unconditionally to enter the Kingdom. Earlier on August 9, Saudi Arabia began accepting applications from pilgrims to enter the region of Umrah, with one requirement that they have to be vaccinated against the coronavirus illness (COVID-19). Umrah is a holy place just like Mecca, where people devotees can go and perform their rituals at any time of year. Umrah application guidelines Saudi Arabia has provisionally permitted visitors who have received two doses of Chinese vaccinations such as Sinovac and Sinopharm and receive a booster shot from one of four authorised vaccines, such as Oxford/Astra Zeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, or Johnson and Johnson. As per ANI, "All visitors arriving in the country with a valid tourism visa must provide evidence of a full course of one the four vaccines currently recognized: two doses of the Oxford/Astra Zeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines or a single dose of the vaccine produced by Johnson and Johnson," the guideline stated, ARY News reported. According to Geo News, who cited the country's media, individuals who have obtained coronavirus vaccinations will only be permitted to visit the holy mosques starting on the 1st of Ramadan. Even the Kingdom's Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said that only those devotees who have been properly vaccinated with the coronavirus vaccine would be permitted to enter the Al-Masjid an-Nabawi (The Prophet's Mosque) and Masjid al-Haram (The Great Mosque). The Saudi Arabian e-visa portal released the recommendations for travellers after resuming the entrance of vaccinated overseas tourists on August 1. Saudi Arabia decided to raise the number of Umrah pilgrims progressively. They want to make the number from 60,000 per month, which is now, to 2 million per month. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Saudi hosted pilgrims for the annual Hajj pilgrimage in July with a limited number of pilgrims. Meanwhile, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said on Tuesday that Pakistan added 3,884 new coronavirus cases to its total count of infections on Monday. While today, the number of new cases has gone to 4856. According to the NCOC, which is in charge of Pakistan's pandemic response, the country's total cases have risen to 1,075,504, with 967,073 recoveries. The number of active cases has been increased to 84,427, with 4,530 people in serious condition. Image Credit: AP

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Pakistan among nine countries denied entry to Saudi Arabia for Umrah, claims Minister

Pakistan Minister Noor ul Haq Qadri claims that the country is still one of the nine countries devotees from where have been barred from entering KSA for Umrah.

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