MADINAH, 9 November 2004 — The sight of hundreds of pilgrims camping out in the vicinity of the Prophet’s Mosque here, is causing consternation to local inhabitants.
Every year in Makkah and Madinah many pilgrims face the problem of finding accommodation. Many resort to sleeping in public squares either because they are too stingy to pay for hotel accommodations, or because they find themselves packed into hotel rooms like sardines by unscrupulous Umrah agents.
Arab News interviewed some officials and homeless pilgrims around the holy mosque. Most of the stranded pilgrims blamed their Haj and Umrah agents for their predicament. These pilgrims come on Umrah packages where the housing, transportation and sometimes food are paid for in advance through Umrah agents. Sometimes an Umrah agent fails to find proper housing for them and leaves them scattered around the holy mosque to find their own housing.
Omar Muwafaq, a pilgrim from Egypt, put the blame on the bad management of Umrah agents. He said, “The Umrah agent we came through promised to provide us with housing, which they did. The deal was to give us two rooms for the six of us, three for each. Instead, the agent wanted to put eight people in one room, which is impossible because the room is too small for three people, so how about eight? Since no one held the agent responsible for what he did to us, I do not think that anyone should come and remove us from the space around the holy mosque because we are not bothering anyone.”
Hatim Al-Juhani, a local Umrah employee, said, “It is not fair to put the blame on Umrah agents. Some of the excuses these pilgrims come up with are funny. Some say that the hotel where they stay is too far away from the holy mosque, which is sometimes true. But for the money they paid, which is little, that was the best that the agents could provide. They expect to stay in the central area around the holy mosque for a cheaper price, which is impossible.
“They want to live around the holy mosque for free in the empty squares and live and eat from Ramadan food for free. They use public facilities like water and bathrooms, which are also free. When people find all these services for free, do you expect them to look for housing?
“It is a bad scene around the holy mosque to see them in large numbers with their luggage. Pilgrims stumble on these bags when the place is crowded. Also, we see a lot of fights between pilgrims because some of them try to steal others’ bags. It is bad to see them gathering like this. If the agents fail to provide them with housing, then they should complain. Otherwise, they should clear the area from this mess.”
The Haj Ministry office in Madinah is trying hard to return these pilgrims back to their housing. They find great difficulty in dealing with most of them because the pilgrims refuse to go back. If the Haj Ministry office finds the Umrah agent responsible for the mess of their pilgrims, or the pilgrims complain that the housing does not meet the standard that they were promised, then the agents will be fined and forced to find proper housing at their expense.
