It is a small revolution in the organization of the pilgrimage to Mecca.

After two editions banned to foreigners due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Hajj 2022 will take place from July 7 to July 12 with a brand new visa application system for believers from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom. United, Europe and Australia.

In hopes of fulfilling the fifth pillar of Islam, Muslims living in these Western countries this year went through the digital platform Motawif, the only one authorized to provide Hajj visas by lot.

Candidates had to meet two conditions to validate their registration: be vaccinated against Covid-19 and be under the age of 65. 

While the final results of this visa lottery are expected on June 18, thousands of French Muslims fear they will miss the pilgrimage this summer.

Because there will not be places for everyone: the 2022 quota of French pilgrims has been set at 9,200, compared to more than 20,000 usually. 

Out-of-game travel agencies 

Until now, visas were granted by the authorities of the Wahhabi kingdom through private travel agencies.

With Motawif, these companies find themselves brutally ousted from the organization of the pilgrimage. 

The Coordination of approved Hajj organizers of France (CHF), which brings together 70 companies, expressed in a press release in early June its "misunderstanding of this disturbing approach and involving very significant risks as to the smooth running of the pilgrimage from France". 

“The agencies are in a phase where they can no longer project themselves. We are starting with situations of near bankruptcy for several of them”, explains an official quoted by SaphirNews, a site specializing in news from the Muslim world. 

However, the Saudi initiative is not a complete surprise for the agencies.

"This reform of the pilgrimage has been in preparation for several years, but the agencies did not expect such a sudden decision, and especially not at the last minute", explains Leïla Seurat, associate researcher at the Observatory of Arab Worlds and Muslims (Omam), author of a study on the pilgrimage market in Mecca.  

Scams in Makkah 

According to a Saudi source quoted by AFP, this new visa allocation system aims to fight against the scams of "fake agencies" which seize the money of pilgrims. 

Scams and misleading commercial practices that have been denounced in France, since 2015, by Omar Dakir, president of the Cultural Association for Mutual Aid and Fraternity (Acef).

He cites the example of "unregistered agencies which sell packages at exorbitant prices and obtain visas with the complicity of approved agencies".  

According to him, the new system put in place by the Saudi authorities is "excellent news" to clean up the Hajj business.

"For years, we have parked French citizens of Muslim faith in planes and hotels, without financial guarantees or legal protection. It is putting the lives of others in danger," said Omar Dakir. 

"For once, the Saudis are normalizing and making the system much more transparent, while a lot of money was circulating under the table," said Didier Leschi, former head of the central office of worship at the French Ministry of the Interior. of the religious news site La Croix Africa. 

On the price side, three packages are available for Muslims residing in the western zone and range from 6,200 euros to 9,900 euros for stays of around three weeks. 

Takeover 

By removing intermediaries, the Saudi kingdom also seeks to maximize the colossal income generated by religious tourism as well as to diversify its economy. 

Before the pandemic, the two main Muslim pilgrimages, the Hajj and the Oumra, brought in some 12 billion dollars (10.2 billion euros) a year to Saudi Arabia. 

"Saudi Arabia wants to take over this market to directly benefit from exchanges with the pilgrim. This reform is part of the Vision 2030 plan, which aims to develop tourism in order to prepare for the post-oil era", analyzes Leïla Seurat from Omam. 

It remains to be seen whether the Saudis will be able to replace Western agencies so easily, while many question marks remain on the new organization and the support that the faithful will benefit from.

"Western agencies play on people's fear by claiming that there will be no guides on site, but that's completely false," retorts Omar Dakir, president of Acef. 

"There will be no more cohesion within groups of French pilgrims who travel together", however specifies Leïla Seurat.

“The tents [in which pilgrims sleep in Mina after Mecca] were organized according to nationality. It is difficult to know how they will do this year. 

For this 2022 edition, Saudi Arabia has authorized the arrival of one million foreign or national pilgrims, compared to 2.5 million before the Covid-19 pandemic. 

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