Saudi Arabia invites Qatari citizens and residents to perform Umrah during Ramadan
Riyadh — Saudi Arabia has invited Qatari citizens and residents who desire to perform Umrah during the holy month of Ramadan, through a dedicated website which was opened last Tuesday for registrations of the pilgrims and to allocate several Air-planes to get them to Makkah and to ensure their safety and well-being.
In Ramadan 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Egypt decalred total economic boycott of Qatar for its direct sponsoring of terrorism and terror-financing.
Despite the boycott, the Salwa border connecting Qatar and Dammam was opened by Saudi Arabia and at least seven Saudi Arabian flights were assigned the duty to transport them directly to Jeddah, in order to help Qatari citizens and residents to perform their religious duties without any disruption.
On the otherside, Qatari Government did not grant authorization for the planes to land at Hamad International Airport.
During Hajj 2017, Qatar’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs blocked their residents and citizens to register on their website. So to help the pilgrims Saudi Arabia launched their own registration website to help the pilgrims reach Makkah to perform rituals.
Eventually, in 2018, Qataris were able to visit Makkah to perform Umrah after registering their legal information upon arrival at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Haj and Umrah launched a website specifically for Qatari pilgrims where they can register their data and arrange their requirements for pilgrimage directly.
Qatari pilgrims can register on https://qatariu.haj.gov.sa and can arrive at either King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah or Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Medina.
Qatari residents can register for the seasonal Umrah pilgrimage on https://eservices.haj.gov.sa/eservices3.
In 2018, at least 500 Qataris arrived in Saudi Arabia via Kuwait to perform the Haj pilgrimage. They were welcomed by authorities and given special buses to transport them to Mecca as well as dedicated camps in the tent city of Mina in Makkah.
