ISLAMABAD/JEDDAH: Pakistan’s director general for Hajj mission, Dr. Sajid Yousfani, has said the mission is “getting full support and co-operation” from Saudi officials to facilitate Pakistani Hajj pilgrims.

Saudi officials at passport, immigration, and custom departments along with the local authorities are all very co-operative, he said while talking to Arab News in Jeddah.

“Road to Makkah project is a very good and useful initiative from Saudi Arabia. We hope that it will be extended for the next year to other cities of Pakistan like Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and Peshawar to facilitate the large numbers of Hajj pilgrims,” he said.

“On Hajj terminal at Jeddah and Madina, the process of immigration and custom clearance was very fast as compared to previous years. It took about an hour to clear the process of normal pilgrims from Pakistan,” he added.

Over 105,000 Hajj pilgrims from Pakistan have arrived in Saudi Arabia thus far, Yousfani said. “A dedicated team from Hajj mission is providing requisite guidance and facilitating the pilgrims in the holy cities of Makkah and Madina.” 

“A call center for Hajj pilgrims has been set up to solve their problems and issues. We have received 361 calls for guidance and about 260 different types of complains from Hajj pilgrims by now and have resolved them all,” Yousfani said.

“We have provided medical facilities to more than 13,000 Pakistani pilgrims. 97 patients were shifted to Saudi hospitals for treatment. We are thankful to the Saudi government for providing best medical facilities to them,’’ said the official.

Dr. Yousfani told Arab news that 10 Pakistani pilgrims had died in Makkah and Madina and were buried there.