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Saudi Deputy Minister of Hajj: Full Return of Pilgrim Numbers to Pre-Pandemic Levels

Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah Abdulfattah Mashat (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah Abdulfattah Mashat (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Deputy Minister of Hajj: Full Return of Pilgrim Numbers to Pre-Pandemic Levels

Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah Abdulfattah Mashat (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah Abdulfattah Mashat (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah Abdulfattah Mashat affirmed that the ministry has used the same process as before the coronavirus pandemic to decide how many pilgrims will be allowed from each country.

The goal is to bring back the number of pilgrims to what it was before the pandemic. He also stressed that this season is special and that all the necessary services are ready at the holy sites.

Mashat, in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, confirmed the existence of precautionary plans to handle any health or organizational emergencies that might occur this Hajj season.

These plans are a part of Saudi Arabia’s ability to manage crowds and handle important information.

The deputy minister also disclosed that relevant authorities in the Kingdom have received many requests to participate in the “Makkah Route Initiative,” and these requests are currently under review by the Interior Ministry.

Regarding company classification, Mashat stated that this year, the categorization of service providers will be based on customer satisfaction using evaluation forms that have been developed on one of the important post-Hajj platforms.

He pointed out that opportunities have been given to several leading hospitality companies to offer their competitive services.

Mashat emphasized that companies that fall short will be held accountable, and that there are mechanisms in place to compensate pilgrims for any shortcomings they may experience.

The deputy minister asserted that this year’s Hajj season is different.

Early readiness was ensured for all services, as well as integration, coordination, and harmony among all the plans of the participating entities in the Hajj process.

According to Mashat, there is significant collaboration between the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah and all relevant authorities, working together to develop a coordinated working plan through the bureau of operational follow-up and the Central Hajj Committee.

The Committee is responsible for continuous monitoring of all Hajj-related operational activities.

Mashat clarified that early preparation is a crucial part of the organization process, in line with the Ministry of Hajj's strategy. This was evident in the various services offered to both domestic and international pilgrims.

Domestic pilgrims had access to all packages through a local platform, while international pilgrims from Europe, America, Australia, and Canada were able to access the “Nusuk Hajj” platform online in advance.

Mashat also described the Nusuk Hajj platform as one of the most important programs aimed at pilgrims from Europe, America, and Australia. Launched several months ago, the platform has facilitated the issuance of over 20,000 visas for prospect pilgrims.

In a conversation about what sets apart the Hajj season 2023 from previous years, Mashat emphasized a remarkable highlight: the triumphant comeback of pilgrim numbers to their pre-pandemic levels.

While the deputy minister did not directly disclose the exact number, statistics from the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) estimate that the number of pilgrims in the year 2019 exceeded 2.4 million.

At that time, the number of domestic pilgrims was approximately 634,000, including around 211,000 Saudi pilgrims and about 423,000 residents of the Kingdom with valid permits.

Regarding the Makkah Route Initiative and its significance, Mashat said: “We have received numerous requests from several countries to join the initiative, and the specialized committee, led by the Ministry of Interior, is thoroughly studying all of these requests.”

Mashat also discussed epidemics and how to deal with them.

“With the end of the (coronavirus) pandemic, there are proactive and preventive precautionary plans in place to handle any health or organizational emergencies that may arise during this season,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Mashat stressed that Saudi Arabia’s extensive experience has led to the creation of exceptional crowd management models.

The Kingdom has the ability to tackle any scenario, making its approach unparalleled worldwide.

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Interviews

Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
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Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich has told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US does not plan to withdraw its forces from Syria.

The US is committed to “the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with,” he said.

Here is the full text of the interview.

Question: Mr. Goldrich, thank you so much for taking the time to sit with us today. I know you are leaving your post soon. How do you assess the accomplishments and challenges remaining?

Answer: Thank you very much for the chance to talk with you today. I've been in this position for three years, and so at the end of three years, I can see that there's a lot that we accomplished and a lot that we have left to do. But at the beginning of a time I was here, we had just completed a review of our Syria policy, and we saw that we needed to focus on reducing suffering for the people in Syria. We needed to reduce violence. We needed to hold the regime accountable for things that are done and most importantly, from the US perspective, we needed to keep ISIS from reemerging as a threat to our country and to other countries. At the same time, we also realized that there wouldn't be a solution to the crisis until there was a political process under resolution 2254, so in each of these areas, we've seen both progress and challenges, but of course, on ISIS, we have prevented the reemergence of the threat from northeast Syria, and we've helped deal with people that needed to be repatriated out of the prisons, and we dealt with displaced people in al-Hol to reduce the numbers there. We helped provide for stabilization in those parts of Syria.

Question: I want to talk a little bit about the ISIS situation now that the US troops are still there, do you envision a timeline where they will be withdrawn? Because there were some reports in the press that there is a plan from the Biden administration to withdraw.

Answer: Yeah. So right now, our focus is on the mission that we have there to keep ISIS from reemerging. So I know there have been reports, but I want to make clear that we remain committed to the role that we play in that part of Syria, to the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with, and to the need to prevent that threat from reemerging.

Question: So you can assure people who are saying that you might withdraw, that you are remaining for the time being?

Answer: Yes, and that we remain committed to this mission which needs to continue to be pursued.

Question: You also mentioned the importance of humanitarian aid. The US has been leading on this. Are you satisfied with where you are today on the humanitarian front in Syria?

Answer: We remain committed to the role that we play to provide for humanitarian assistance in Syria. Of the money that was pledged in Brussels, we pledged $593 million just this past spring, and we overall, since the beginning of the conflict, have provided $18 billion both to help the Syrians who are inside of Syria and to help the refugees who are in surrounding countries. And so we remain committed to providing that assistance, and we remain keenly aware that 90% of Syrians are living in poverty right now, and that there's been suffering there. We're doing everything we can to reduce the suffering, but I think where we would really like to be is where there's a larger solution to the whole crisis, so Syrian people someday will be able to provide again for themselves and not need this assistance.

Question: And that's a perfect key to my next question. Solution in Syria. you are aware that the countries in the region are opening up to Assad again, and you also have the EU signaling overture to the Syrian regime and Assad. How do you deal with that?

Answer: For the United States, our policy continues to be that we will not normalize with the regime in Syria until there's been authentic and enduring progress on the goals of resolution 2254, until the human rights of the Syrian people are respected and until they have the civil and human rights that they deserve. We know other countries have engaged with the regime. When those engagements happen, we don't support them, but we remind the countries that are engaged that they should be using their engagements to push forward on the shared international goals under 2254, and that whatever it is that they're doing should be for the sake of improving the situation of the Syrian people.

Question: Let's say that all of the countries decided to talk to Assad, aren’t you worried that the US will be alienated in the process?

Answer: The US will remain true to our own principles and our own policies and our own laws, and the path for the regime in Syria to change its relationship with us is very clear, if they change the behaviors that led to the laws that we have and to the policies that we have, if those behaviors change and the circumstances inside of Syria change, then it's possible to have a different kind of relationship, but that's where it has to start.

Question: My last question to you before you leave, if you have to pick one thing that you need to do in Syria today, what is it that you would like to see happening today?

Answer: So there are a number of things, I think that will always be left and that there are things that we will try to do, to try to make them happen. We want to hold people accountable in Syria for things that have happened. So even today, we observed something called the International Day for victims of enforced disappearances, there are people that are missing, and we're trying to draw attention to the need to account for the missing people. So our step today was to sanction a number of officials who were responsible for enforced disappearances, but we also created something called the independent institution for missing persons, and that helps the families, in the non-political way, get information on what's happened. So I'd like to see some peace for the families of the missing people. I'd like to see the beginning of a political process, there hasn't been a meeting of the constitutional committee in two years, and I think that's because the regime has not been cooperating in political process steps. So we need to change that situation. And I would, of course, like it's important to see the continuation of the things that we were talking about, so keeping ISIS from reemerging and maintaining assistance as necessary in the humanitarian sphere. So all these things, some of them are ongoing, and some of them remain to be achieved. But the Syrian people deserve all aspects of our policy to be fulfilled and for them to be able to return to a normal life.