After the start of the pandemic in 2020, only a thousand people had been admitted to participate in the annual pilgrimage, and they were only 60,000 last year.
Le Monde and AFP
The Saudi Ministry of the HADJ “authorized one million pilgrims, foreigners or nationals, to accomplish the HADJ this year,” he announced on Saturday 9 April in a statement. This annual pilgrimage to Mecca will take place from July 7th to 12th, 2022.
The government wants to ensure the safety of pilgrims “while ensuring that a maximum of Muslims in the world can accomplish the HADJ,” continues the press release.
The Hadj, one of the five pillars of Islam, must be accomplished by all Muslims who have the means at least once in their lives. This is one of the greatest religious gatherings in the world. About 2.5 million people participated in 2019.
After the start of the pandemic in 2020, the Saudi authorities authorized only 1,000 pilgrims to participate. The following year, they allowed 60,000 fully vaccinated residents chosen by drawing. These restrictions fueled the resentment of Muslims from abroad who have not been allowed to participate.
Access conditions that range from PCR test vaccine
According to Saturday’s announcement, this year’s HADJ will be limited to vaccinated pilgrims under the age of 65. Those coming from outside Saudi Arabia will have to present a negative PCR test of less than 72 hours.
HADJ consists of a series of religious rites made for five days in the most sacred city of Islam, Mecca, and in the surrounding areas of Western Saudi Arabia. The reception of HADJ is a question of prestige for Saudi leaders, the responsibility of the most sacred sites of Islam sitting their political legitimacy.
Before the pandemic, the pilgrimage was an essential source of revenue for the Kingdom, reporting about $ 12 billion (€ 11 billion) per year.
The Kingdom of about 34 million inhabitants recorded more than 751,000 cases of coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic and 9,055 deaths, according to data from the Ministry of Health. In early March, he announced the lifting of most CIVID-19 restrictions, including social distance in public places and quarantine for vaccinated arrivals, while masks are now mandatory only in closed places.