The dreams of the pilgrims, who were mostly of Asian origin, evaporated when the bus that was supposed to transport them to Makkah did not come and officials of the office disappeared without a trace.
Speaking to a local daily, Mutib Al-Shammari said he paid SR2,800 to the office for his maid to perform Haj.
The office was located in Al-Batha neighborhood. The office asked the pilgrims to show up on Thursday to start their journey to Makkah.
Al-Shammari said he was shocked when he saw more than 230 people waiting in front of the office. Police were present at the scene. “I learned from police that only 62 people had permits to perform Haj and that the office did not have any means of transportation to transfer them to Makkah,” he said.
Police arrested one man who was working in the office while two others are still at large, one from Indonesia and the other from Syria.
Another Saudi, Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, said he paid a similar amount for his maid to perform Haj only to discover the office was bogus. He said the only thing he could do was file a complaint.
He said his maid was brokenhearted because she missed the chance to perform Haj this year. “The Indonesian man working in the office is known for 18 years and specialized in assisting Indonesian pilgrims. I never thought that this would happen,” said Al-Ghamdi.
Minister of Haj Fouad Al-Farsy announced at a press conference days before the pilgrimage started that his ministry had launched a low cost Haj program in cooperation with 21 companies and institutions to provide services for domestic pilgrims.
The package cost between SR1,900 and SR3,900 per pilgrim. The ministry listed the names of the companies participating in the program on the Internet so people would register with them and not fall victim to illegal Haj campaign offices.
Undersecretary of the Makkah governorate Abdul Aziz Al-Khudairy said illegal Haj campaign offices were committing a terrible crime. He said these pilgrims would end up squatting in holy sites because they have no accommodation and this would lead to more problems. He said that pilgrims should verify first whether the Haj campaign office is legal and licensed before they sign up with them. He said that this can be easily checked through the Haj Ministry website.
