MAKKAH, 5 December 2007 — Any pilgrim without the mandatory Haj permit trying to enter Makkah will be caught at one of the 12 checkpoints on the roads leading into the holy city, according to a top Passport Department official.
“Since Nov. 6, no expatriate has been allowed to enter Makkah unless his sponsor came to the checkpoint and stated the reason for his entry into Makkah,” Col. Khalafallah Al-Tuwairqi, in-charge of Passport Department checkpoints, told Arab News yesterday. Makkah-based expatriate workers are exempt from this regulation, he added.
Al-Tuwairqi said Saudi pilgrims were also denied entry if they did not have valid permits. A foolproof method of detecting forged permits had been introduced at the checkpoints, he said without giving any details.
According to him, all smugglers of illegal pilgrims into Makkah face deterrent punishment. “A Saudi smuggler will be fined SR10,000 for each person smuggled. If the smuggler is a non-Saudi, he will be deported after paying the fines,” he said.
Al-Tuwairqi added that close examination of the documents of passengers passing through the checkpoints revealed that some expatriates were using forged residence permits. They were detained for deportation.
He said the checkpoints also had special women’s divisions staffed with women inspectors. New checkpoints, Al-Tuwairqi said, had been set up on the unpaved roads used by smugglers to enter Makkah unnoticed by police and Passport Department officials.
The official appealed to the drivers on the roads to Makkah not to transport any passenger without the Haj permit. “Violators will be punished regardless of nationality.”
