No permit, no Haj: S Arabia intensifies crackdown after heat deaths

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Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia is crackdown on unregistered worshipers in next week’s Hajj pilgrimage, killing hundreds a year later.

Regular raids, drone surveillance and text warnings are aimed at rooting unauthorized visitors, hoping that the crowd will be mixed around Makkah and around it.

“There is no Hajj without a permit”, a simple message is being conveyed in a unprecedented campaign that is being promoted nationwide on shopping centers, billboards and media platforms. Last year, 1,301 pilgrims, most of them lacked access to unregistered and aerial tents and buses, died when the temperature rose to 51.8 degrees Celsius (125.2 degrees Fahrenheit).

“Since the end of the last season, we realized that the biggest challenge was to prevent unauthorized pilgrims from damaging the success of the Hajj season,” an official helped to organize the Hajj by requesting anonymity.

Saudi officials said 83 % of those killed last year do not have government permits for Hajj. The temperature of up to 44C (111F) is predicted next week. To find unregistered pilgrims, Saudi authorities have developed a new drone raft to monitor entrances in Mika. Security forces have also raided hundreds of apartments in search of people hiding in the area.

An Egyptian engineer living in Makkah, who spoke on the state of not disclosing his name, said his building was raided several times in recent weeks. “Police officers came to my house twice in the uniform and asked me to see me and my wife’s residence,” he told AFP.

“Almost everywhere, we have been asked to show accommodation or work permits in Makkah. The presence of security is unparalleled.” Ever since Saudi Arabia has developed visa restrictions in terms of visa restrictions and visa restrictions, the issue of illegal pilgrims has become intensified.

Hundreds of thousands are believed to have used family and tourist visas instead of a designated Hajj visa to enter the country every year. Saudi Arabia has now been trying to cut the issue by banning several entry visas for citizens of several countries since January.

Family and tourist visas were also stopped from citizens of more than 10 countries, including Egypt, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Jordan. Omar Karim, a Saudi affairs expert at Birmingham University, said officials who focused on “stoping people but stopped” before coming before Hajj.

He added, “Saudi authorities have seen that once they are inside the kingdom, it is a difficult task to prevent them from entering Makkah physically even if many security officials are deployed.”

For the past month, those who enter Makkah have been limited to work and housing permits. Many people have been forced to send their wives and children in Mecca, who lack proper visas, outside the city.

The rituals that can be performed throughout the year for Umrah-need to be discharged. Meanwhile, fines for illegal Hajj have doubled to 20,000 Saudi riyals (5,333), which violators have faced a 10 -year ban from the country.

Those who are found to provide shelter and help unauthorized pilgrims can be fined up to 100,000 riyals (26,666). The official added, “The purpose of all of them is to ensure that the MECA is specified specifically for the pilgrims during the Haj season.”

Residents of Makkah told AFP that the mob there was significantly thinner than previous years. However, officials said Tuesday that more than a million pilgrims have already arrived in Saudi Arabia for Hajj.

Last year’s Hajj deaths were a high level of heat destruction in 2024, about which the Coopernax climate change service said the hottest year was recorded so far.

Although the shrine, which is after the lunar piety, will eventually change the cold weather, the aid will be temporary. A 2019 study published by the Geo Physical Research Letters Journal says that due to climate change and time of Hajj, heat stress for visitors will exceed 2047 to 2052, and from 2079 to 2086, “the” extreme risk limit “.