Hajj 2022: Saudi Arabia allows Kyrgyzstanis to visit Mecca

17:52, 20 апреля 2022, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Jazgul MASALIEVA

Saudi Arabia allowed Kyrgyzstanis to visit Mecca. Press service of the Spiritual Directorate of the Muslims of Kyrgyzstan (SDMK) reports.

According to it, 2,766 places have been allocated to Kyrgyz pilgrims.

«Given that there is little time left before the start of the hajj, we ask registered citizens to start paying the pilgrimage fee from April 25,» SDMK says.

The list can be checked in the electronic registration system for the hajj on the website of the muftiyat.

Saudi Arabia has set several conditions for pilgrims in 2022:

• Not older than 65;
• Vaccination against COVID-19;
• Negative PCR test result.

In connection with the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Saudi Arabia banned large pilgrimage to the shrines of Islam in Mecca and Medina for foreign citizens. There were restrictions on the hajj for the Saudis themselves. The pilgrimage took place without participation of foreign citizens for two years. This year, Saudi Arabia decided to receive Muslims from other countries.

According to the muftiyat, about 6,000 Kyrgyzstanis are in the electronic list for the hajj. Earlier, the muftiyat reported that a total of 9,586 people registered for hajj in 2020. Only 2,488 pilgrims of them wrote applications for refund.