Saudi Arabia has officially launched the Makkah Road Initiative by commissioning the first two flights of pilgrims from Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Sunday.
The initiative began with ending the entry visas into Saudi Arabia from a pilgrim’s own country, at the airport where the originating flight takes off from, in collaboration with various related Saudi government agencies to facilitate pilgrimage arrangements and requirements.
All pilgrims from Malaysia and a section of pilgrims from Indonesia will have their immigration pre-clearance facility from their embarkation points for this year’s Haj. The Proof of Concept (POC) System for pre-clearance at the point of departure to Saudi Arabia was implemented in coordination with the Saudi, Malaysian and Indonesian authorities. The uniform electronic path service has been dubbed as Makkah Road initiative.
The launching ceremony was attended by officials from the relevant authorities, led by Minister in the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Office for Islamic Affairs Dr. Mujahid Yusuf, Director General of the Malaysian Immigration Department Mustafa Ali, and Chief Executive of the Office of Malaysia Pilgrims Affairs Zukri Samat.
From the Saudi side, the event was attended by a number of senior officials including Director General of Passports Maj. Gen. Sulaiman Al Yahya, Kingdom’s Ambassador to Malaysia Mahmoud bin Hussein Qattan, and members of the supervisory committee of the relevant bodies providing services to pilgrims.
The pilgrims who arrive under the Makkah Road initiative have their fingerprints taken and passports stamped at the pilgrims’ country of departure and their entry into Saudi Arabia would be facilitated like a domestic flight while their baggage would be sent to their places of residence through the Ministry of Haj. At the same time, the Saudi Ministry of Health announced that they have begum checking of pilgrims’ health requirements electronically without the need to see the papers of vaccines at the airport in Kuala Lumpur on the first trip of the pilgrims of Malaysia, which arrived on Saturday at the Prince Muhammad Bin Abdul Aziz Airport in Madinah.
Ambassador Mahmoud Qattan praised the Saudi government’s efforts to serve the pilgrims through Makkah Road Initiative, and all the services provided to them. He also lauded the cooperation of the Malaysian authorities and their facilitation of the procedures for the team working at Kuala Lumpur Airport. The travel procedures of all of Malaysia’s pilgrims for the 1439 AH (2018) Hajj season, will be completed through this initiative.
Head of the Saudi delegation Sulaiman Al Yahya highlighted the directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to serve the pilgrims in accordance with the National Transformation Program 2020, Saudi Vision 2030 and under the direct supervision of Minister of Interior Abdul Aziz bin Saud bin Naif, who heads the Supreme Hajj Committee, by launching the Makkah Road Initiative.
Undersecretary of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah Hussein Al-Sharif said the ministry has made ready all the facilities to host the pilgrims. As for the Makkah Road Initiative, he said the ministry has completed all the tasks assigned to it and is ready to receive the pilgrims from Malaysia and Indonesia, starting with sorting and classification of baggage in advance, to receiving and transferring by bus from the airport directly to their residence.
The services provided under the Makkah Road Initiative include issuing visas, customs and passport procedures, facilitating health requirements, baggage management, and housing arrangements in Makkah.
Source: International Islamic News Agency