First group of BiH pilgrims travels to Mecca, 2,222 will travel by June 2nd

(Patria) - From the International Airport in Sarajevo today at 10:05 AM, 174 out of 2,222 citizens of our country will travel for Hajj, organized by the Office for Hajj and Umrah of the Islamic Community in BiH, to perform the fifth Islamic duty.

Some employees of the Office for Hajj and Umrah have been in Saudi Arabia for several days, ensuring everything proceeds safely, with dignity, and in an organized manner.

- We have held a series of working meetings and, thank God, we can say that everything is ready and that the planned activities are proceeding according to schedule - confirmed Safet-ef. Karahmetović, representative of the Office, on Radio BIR.

He explained that within the planned procedures, all necessary meetings were held with the management of the "Abraj Meridien" hotel where the pilgrims will be accommodated, with representatives of the "Rifada" company that will provide service support, and that they also met with members of the representation of the Saudi Civil Aviation Agency at "King Abdulaziz" International Airport in Jeddah, where the planes with our pilgrims will land.

- We also met with representatives of the "Zemzem" company, the official service for the two holy mosques, as well as representatives of STC, i.e., the State Telecommunications Company.

We also held the necessary meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia and the management of the private hospital "Dr. Ahmad Bishri", which will be responsible for medical support for all our pilgrims for the first time this year - emphasized Karahmetović.

Preparations also include organizing the arrival of pilgrims from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Jeddah, as well as the transfer to Mecca, then accommodation in hotels, and the distribution of accreditation.

- We have also secured office space for the needs of our Hajj and Umrah office, as well as an ambulance space with the necessary medicines and medical equipment, which will be operational throughout our stay in Saudi Arabia.

Those who wish will be able to purchase SIM cards with Saudi numbers immediately upon arrival at the hotel. Also, God willing, we have arranged a visit to the Mashair, i.e., the places where the Hajj rituals will be performed, the day before our flights begin.

This includes Arafat, Muzdalifah, and Mina, and together with representatives of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, we will visit the Haram Sharif again to determine the exact guidelines and dates for our pilgrims' arrival at the place where Umrah rituals are performed - stated Karahmetović.

Furthermore, Karahmetović praised the work and commitment of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which, through the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, has carried out comprehensive preparations this year.

Strict control measures have been introduced to prevent illegal entry and performing Hajj without the necessary permits, which is certainly of great importance for the safety of all pilgrims and other visitors.

- Therefore, through this channel, we from the Technical Support Team, or so-called advance party, as we are called in Saudi Arabia, especially appeal to our pilgrims to fully comply with all regulations and instructions they will receive from guides and official staff.

We will need coordination, a lot of patience, and personal discipline for all rituals to proceed peacefully and successfully.

Also, we want to convey to our pilgrims and their family members, or rather inform them, that when assigning rooms, we made every effort to accommodate all their expressed wishes, except in very rare cases where this was not possible due to objective technical reasons - noted Karahmetović.

The team for preparing the arrival of our pilgrims, in addition to Karahmetović, includes Belmin Muharemović, expert associate and employee of the Office for Hajj and Umrah, then Bahrudin Čolo, dr. hafiz Maid Ibrahimović and Azrudin Smriko, as well as Muhidin Garanović, director of the Directorate for Economic and Financial Affairs of the Rijaset.

It is planned that all 2,222 pilgrims from BiH will travel by June 2nd.