The KSA Directorate General of Passports said that the number of umrah pilgrims who had arrived in KSA through international ports (by air, land and sea) from the beginning of umrah season on 1 Muharram, the first day of the Hijri (Islamic) year 1440, till noon on the eighth day of the second month, Safar, reached 5,144,431, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) has reported.
Of these, 4,652,153 be already left the country. The KSA General Directorate of Passports has worked to improve the level of services being provided to umrah pilgrims and speed up passport procedures for them.
The SPA also shared that the supervisory committee of the Makkah Road Initiative has been following up on implementation of the initiative at accredited airports in Malaysia and Indonesia.The initiative accelerates immigration procedures for Hajj pilgrims at departure airports to ease logistics on arrival in KSA.
Discussions are under way to discuss the possibility of implementing it for Hajj 2019 in more countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Tunisia.
In Malaysia the committee met with Malaysian Deputy Director General of Immigration Affairs Mohammed bin Wan Yousef and inspected arrangements for implementing the initiative for Malaysian pilgrims in 2019. It also saw how the process works at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Meanwhile, Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr Mohammed Saleh bin Taher Benten received the Turkish Minister of Religious Affairs Dr Ali Arbash and his delegation as part of on-going meetings about Hajj 2019, the SPA said.
They discussed issues related to the coming Hajj and umrah and also reviewed the ministry's services accorded to Hajj and umrah pilgrims.
The Turkish minister expressed appreciation of the Saudi government, under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the HRH Crown Prince, for the efforts exerted to meet the needs of all pilgrims from all over the world.