Saudi Arabia offers Qatari pilgrims visas on arrival
▶ Move counters Doha’s attempts to prevent citizens from performing Hajj
Saudi Arabia will provide Qatari nationals with Hajj visas on arrival after Doha tried to prevent its citizens from performing the pilgrimage later this month.
This week, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah countered Qatari claims that the kingdom was blocking access to websites used to register for Hajj visas by officially allowing citizens to obtain permits at the King Abdulaziz Airport in Jeddah.
The ministry provided photos of the offices that will be responsible for Qatari pilgrims during their stay in Makkah and released an official statement saying that Qataris will be granted passage despite the diplomatic dispute between Riyadh and Doha. An official at the ministry told The National that it was Saudi Arabia’s duty to “provide every necessary measure for all our Muslim brothers around the world to perform Hajj”.
This comes after reports that Doha blocked a website set up by the ministry to allow Qataris to apply for the Hajj visa.
Saudi Arabia launched another website, which again was made inaccessible by Qatari authorities, Riyadh said.
The site is intended to help Qataris perform Hajj, an obligatory pilgrimage for all able-bodied Muslims and one of the five pillars of Islam. A statement on the Hajj Media Service, the official website for all news on Hajj, said preparations had been made to receive Qatari pilgrims. They can come on any non-Qatari airlines, and Qataris living in Saudi Arabia can apply through a dedicated website, a statement said.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have had no diplomatic contact with Qatar since June last year. There have been no direct flights between the quartet and Qatar since the start of the boycott, but Qatari citizens can still fly to Jeddah via Muscat or Kuwait City.
Last year, King Salman reopened Saudi Arabia’s land border with Qatar and allocated seven flights of the Saudi national airline to transport pilgrims from Doha.
Officials from the quartet have been steadfast in saying the boycott is not intended against the Qatari people but aimed at the leadership in Doha, who they accuse of supporting terrorism and interfering in the domestic affairs of their neighbours.
Saudi Arabia has also made similar concessions for Iranian nationals, despite the two countries being regional adversaries.
Tens of thousands of Iranians have been granted the right to perform Hajj. Saudi Arabia and Iran have had no diplomatic relations since 2016. Qatar, however, has claimed that Riyadh’s treatment of Iranians has been more favourable, a claim Saudi Arabia denies.
“The Qatari government’s decision bars its citizens from performing the rituals of Hajj, and regardless of all the justifications it touted, it shows a clear absence of informed vision that can differentiate between what is political and what is more important,” Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said this week.
The Qatari foreign minister said that Saudi Arabia had politicised Hajj, in a statement that angered authorities in the kingdom.
Last year, Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel Al Jubeir accused Qatar of attempting to “internationalise” the administration of the holy sites in Saudi Arabia and said this would be considered a “declaration of war”.