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Wednesday 23 Dec 2015 - 12:03 Makkah mean time-12-3-1437
Riyadh, (IINA) - Saudi Arabia has lifted its nine-month ban on Umrah visas for Bangladeshis after the Asian nation dealt with agencies using Umrah trips to traffic people into the Kingdom. Riyadh informed Dhaka of its decision on December 14 in a letter, Arab News reported.
The ban came into force in March after Bangladesh’s Minister of Religious Affairs Matior Rahman confirmed that 11,485 Bangladeshi Umrah pilgrims did not return home in 2014.
Following this, Riyadh informed Dhaka that the Kingdom would not issue any Umrah visa until the visa overstayers returned home and action was taken against the agencies responsible.
A total of 204 firms out of 300 faced human trafficking accusations. The Bangladeshi government fined, seized the deposits, and canceled the licenses of 69 travel agencies on November 18 after they were found guilty of smuggling people into the Kingdom using Umrah visas. Another 26 agencies were also fined.
A senior official from the Bangladeshi mission here revealed that about 60,000 pilgrims come for Umrah every year.
He said the government has published a list of 70 agencies with no allegations to conduct Umrah travels next year.
AG/IINA
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