69 hajj agencies lose licence

The government has cancelled licences of 69 hajj agencies for trafficking people in the guise of Umrah pilgrims to Saudi Arabia last year.

Twenty-six others were fined for committing the crime, said Chowdhury Babul Hassan, religious affairs secretary, yesterday at a press briefing at Economic Relations Division in the capital.

The action was taken on the basis of findings of an investigation. 

Following the measures, the government hopes that the Saudi government will lift its embargo on Umrah visas for Bangladeshis, Babul said.

Saudi Arabia stopped issuing Umrah visas to Bangladeshis on March 22 after allegations had been raised of smuggling of 11,485 people in the guise of pilgrims.

On receiving such allegations against 104 Hajj agents, including the president of the private Hajj agencies' association (Haab), the religious affairs ministry formed a five-member committee to investigate the matter last June.

Umrah visas are issued only for 14 to 28 days and do not require any police verification and ministry certification, leaving scopes for unscrupulous local and Saudi hajj agencies to take advantage of this, said people involved in the business.

The embargo on Umrah visas has taken a heavy toll on Biman Bangladesh Airlines as the national flag carrier used to fly the majority of Umrah pilgrims. 

Biman reduced the number of weekly flights on Dhaka-Jeddah-Dhaka route to five from seven in  April in the wake of a drop in the number of passengers travelling by its flights.

In the meantime, the Umrah season commenced on November 14 and will continue until the end of Ramadan. Bangladeshis will not be able to perform Umrah until the Saudi government withdraws the ban. 

However, Saudi Hajj Minister Bandar Al-Hajjar has recently said a new system will be put in place and executive bylaws issued soon to increase the number of pilgrims visiting the Middle Eastern country every year.

The ministry will continue using e-portal to issue visas, which will not take more than a few minutes, he added.

As many as 51,321 Bangladeshis performed Umrah last year.