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Arab health ministers agreed to ban the elderly and young children from going on `Umrah and hajj this year. (Google) |
CAIRO — In a bid to contain the spread of swine flu, Arab health ministers agreed Wednesday, July 22, to ban the elderly and young children from going on `Umrah and hajj in Saudi Arabia this year.
"Hajj and `Umrah will continue with some conditions," said Ibrahim al-Kerdani, World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman in Egypt, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"Some groups will be excluded from hajj: people over the age of 65, people under the age of 12 and people with chronic illnesses."
The ban was taken during an emergency meeting of Arab health ministers to coordinate arrangements and precautions to be taken during hajj.
Kerdani said the decision to keep the vulnerable groups away from hajj is yet to be ratified by the Arab governments.
The swine flu (H1N1), a mixture of various swine, bird and human viruses, first emerged in Mexico in April.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says the virus is moving around the globe at "unprecedented speed," with more than 700 people killed since the outbreak began.
Several Muslim countries have already warned vulnerable people against going on `Umrah and hajj in Saudi Arabia over swine flu concerns.
On Monday, Egypt became the latest country to advise vulnerable people against going to the holy sites in Makkah, after an Egyptian woman back from Saudi Arabia became the first swine flu death in the Middle East and Africa.
In Iran, a health ministry official on Tuesday repeated calls for elderly Iranians and children to avoid going on hajj this year.
Tunisia earlier this month suspended `Umrah because of the virus, while reserving judgment on whether hajj should be undertaken.
Saudi Arabia itself in June warned elderly Muslims and pregnant women against undertaking hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, because of the threat of swine flu.
More than two million Muslims perform hajj, an obligation for all able-bodied, financially capable Muslims at least once in a lifetime, every year.
Requirement
The WHO says Saudi Arabia is expected to ratify the Arab recommendation to exclude the vulnerable people from hajj.
"The Saudi government will make (these conditions) a requirement," said Hussein Gezairi, the WHO regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean region.
"No one will get their visa unless these requirements are fulfilled."
Around 3 million Muslim pilgrims from around the world head for the holy city of Makkah each year for hajj.
But Riyadh said that it would not restrict the number of visas it issues for hajj this year.
"We did not change the percentage of any country, we changed certain rules," Saudi Health Minister Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Rabeeah said.
"It's up to the country to replace (applicants who fall under the restrictions) with" other pilgrims, he said.
He, however, said that there would "probably" be fewer pilgrims this year.
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