‘Licence-scrapped agencies can’t send Umrah pilgrims’

Hajj agencies, which were found guilty of trafficking Bangladeshis in the name of Umrah Hajj, would not be allowed to send pilgrims for performing Umrah in Saudi Arabia next year, Religious Affairs Minister Motiur Rahman said today.

He made the remark while briefing the media days after the Saudi government’s opening of Umrah visas for Bangladeshis, ending a nine-month suspension on allegations of human trafficking.

“The agencies which are not facing any charge, can run their activities for Umrah,” said the minister.

Meanwhile, the ministry has published a list of 70 approved agencies for conducting the Umrah Hajj in 2016 on its website today.

READ MORE: 69 hajj agencies lose licence

Saudi Arabia stopped issuing Umrah visas for Bangladeshis on March 22 this year for trafficking people in the name of performing the holy ritual.

Later, Bangladesh’s religious affairs ministry brought charges against a total of 104 agencies and imposed different types of punishment including scrapping licences for trafficking 11,485 people to the Arab country.