Saudi Gazette report

MAKKAH — The ratio of pilgrims who sneaked to the holy sites to perform Haj without permits dropped to 3 percent this year, said Makkah Emir Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, chairman of the Central Haj Committee.

Speaking at a meeting of the committee on Tuesday, he said the number of pilgrims who were able to enter Makkah and the holy sites without Haj permits in 2015 was about 9 percent and it was 5 percent last year.

The emir told the meeting that over 1.3 million pilgrims who came from abroad have all left for their respective home countries through the Kingdom's air, land and sea exits.

The Haj will be officially declared over by Muharram 15 (Oct. 5). The Umrah pilgrims have already started arriving in the Kingdom after the season began on Muharram 1 (Sept. 21).

The emir said the campaign titled "Haj: A worship and a civilized conduct" has increased awareness among people to respect the Haj rules and regulations and has helped decrease the number of people doing the pilgrimage without official permits.

"The campaign has also improved the services being offered to the guests of God including cleanliness. It has eased traffic movement and prevented squatting on the streets and under bridges," he added.

Prince Khaled Al- revealed that cases have been filed against about 80 Haj service providers and 94 people have been arrested for various violations.

He asked all the concerned departments to start preparing for the next year's Haj from now after studying all the positive and negative aspects, which were noticed during the season.

Speaking about the positive points noticed during the just-concluded Haj, Prince Khaled said they included the establishment of more development projects in the holy sites, which were implemented in a record short time, easier transportation of pilgrims by the Mashaer train and the shuttle buses that transported pilgrims from their places of accommodation to the Grand Mosque to offer prayers.

"The experiment of sending a team from the Passport Department to foreign countries to process the pilgrims' passports right at their home was successful. In Kuala Lumpur, 1,692 pilgrims completed their procedures in this way," he said.

The emir said as many as 3,949 licenses were issued for the accommodation of pilgrims in Makkah and more than 50 percent of the tents in Arafat were supplied with air-conditioners.

He said the new services that proved successful also included the setting up of an emergency 50-bed hospital in the Grand Mosque, the establishment of 14 health centers in Arafat and the increasing of beds for pilgrims suffering from sunstroke and heat exhaustion to 286 in hospitals in the holy sites.

"More than 400 sick pilgrims were transported to Arafat from hospitals in Makkah and Madinah to complete their Haj rites," he said.