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Stranded pilgrims head for Makkah

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SHARJAH — Out of the 300 Haj pilgrims from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan who were stranded in the UAE, 129 left for the holy city of Makkah from the Dubai International Airport early morning yesterday.

Published: Sun 16 Dec 2007, 8:38 AM

Updated: Sun 5 Apr 2015, 2:18 AM

  • By
  • Afkar Abdullah And Amira Agarib (Our staff reporters)

According to a late evening information provided by an official of the UAE Red Crescent, the remaining pilgrims, too, had been granted Saudi visas and they werte expected to be flown to Makkah late last night.

The pilgrims were stranded in the UAE after they were allegedly cheated by tourist companies in their respective countries, and their representatives in the UAE failed to organise onward transport by land or air to the holy city of Makkah.

The remaining stranded pilgrims had no visas to enter Saudi Arabia. The Red Crescent, in coordination with Shaikh Khalifa Charity Foundation, was making all efforts to get visas for them to enter Saudi Arabia. “We have already sent their passports to the Saudi embassy in Abu Dhabi and we are expecting them to respond by today,” said Khamees Al Suwaidi, Director of the Red Crescent office in Sharjah.

Al Suwaidi said the Red Crescent and Shaikh Khalifa Charity Foundation arranged air tickets for the 129 pilgrims who had visas to enter the holy land and also provided them enough fund to cover their Haj expenses.

Also in coordination with Sharjah Medical Zone, the Red Crescent is providing the pilgrims with all the necessary vaccination and other personal requirements.

Right now, Al Suwaidi said, the focus is on helping these pilgrims to catch up with the Haj rituals, “but after they depart we will investigate the tourist companies that conned them and whoever exploited these pilgrims.”

After proper investigations in coordination with other countries, and the airline managements, recommendations will be made to prevent such a problem recurring.

“Some of the pilgrims were told that Sharjah is Makkah, hence as soon as they arrived at the airport they chanted ‘Allah-u-Akbar ( God is great),” he commented.

Al Suwaidi said that UAE nationals and expatriates are all empathising with the miserable state of the stranded pilgrims. Many people offered to provide the stranded pilgrims shelter at their homes while some others offered money and other things of utility to the pilgrims.



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