Umrah pilgrims through Hijra Group get stranded in Mecca

Maldivian pilgrims who went to Umrah in late 2024 through Al-Hijra Umrah Group has been stranded in Saudi Arabia without anyway to come back.

‘Sun’ Online has learned that a total of 24 Maldivian pilgrims has been stuck in Saudi Arabia, which includes children as well.

It has also been reported that the arrangements for their travel to Saudi Arabia had been less than satisfactory.

One of the pilgrims who went for Umrah through the group had reported that the pilgrims were separated into three groups and had flown to Saudi Arabia via three different flights. The individual further stated that the Umrah group had not provided them with proper accommodation, while pilgrims were required to vacate the hotel they were staying as well.

Additionally, pilgrims who transited at Hyderabad, India had to stay there for 23 hours before their flight to Saudi Arabia while the pilgrims were not provided with accommodation and food during their transit.

While their Umrah pilgrimage has concluded, the pilgrims are currently unable to return to the Maldives as their return tickets have not been arranged.

“Those who need to report back to their work, and students whose studies have resumed, all are stuck here without any way to fly home,” one of the pilgrims wrote in a Facebook post.

Originally, these pilgrims were scheduled to return to the Maldives on January 5^th, but their return was later rescheduled to January 9^th. However, as of now, the pilgrims have no idea when they can fly back.

Although ‘Sun’ Online attempted to get a comment from Al-Hijra, they were unavailable.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dr. Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed said the issue has come to the government’s attention, and has been observing the issue up close.

Instances of pilgrims flying to Saudi Arabia via small pilgrim groups and later getting stranded have been reported in the past as well, while there had been some instances of people running scams to dupe pilgrims off of their money in the pretext of arranging trips to Saudi Arabia.