Qatar: Saudi Arabia barring its citizens from Hajj pilgrimage

Qatar has charged Saudi Arabia with barring its citizens from performing this year’s Hajj pilgrimage amid a year-long boycott of Doha by a Saudi-led bloc of four Arab nations.

According to Press TV, Abdullah al-Kaabi of the state-run Qatar National Human Rights Committee said Saturday that Riyadh had shut down an electronic system used by Qatari travel agencies to obtain permits for pilgrims.

In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Egypt severed diplomatic relations with Qatar, in a scheme generally believed to have been orchestrated by Riyadh.

"There is no chance this year for Qatari citizens and residents to travel for Hajj," said al-Kaabi .

"Registration of pilgrims from the State of Qatar remains closed, and residents of Qatar cannot be granted visas as there are no diplomatic missions."

"Last year we lost a lot of money as the crisis started after we had booked everything in Mecca and Medina and we had to pay people back," said a manager of one travel agency in Doha, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"This year, nobody is really trying as people have understood there is no way to go there in these circumstances," the official said.

Saudi Arabia temporarily opened the land border for Hajj last year, but not this year. Some 1,200 Qataris are eligible to perform the rituals under a quota system.

SS