Less than 5,000 UAE residents to perform Haj this year

The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments (GAIAE) has called those who have already performed Haj pilgrimage to drop their plans for this year in order to allow those intending pilgrims who have never gone to Haj before.

The authority also called all Hajj contractors to abide by the numbers assigned to them from the official Haj Mission, pointing out that the mission is granting licenses only to those who have agreed upon with the numbers limitation.

The move is in line with the expansion currently undertaken by the Government of The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, especially the circumambulation area (Mataf expansion).

The Saudi government in consensus among all Islamic countries has reduced quota of each country by 20 per cent in order to preserve the comfort of pilgrims.

Mohammed Obeid Al Mazrouei, Chairman UAE official Haj mission said, "Like rest of the Islamic Haj missions, we also appreciate the efforts of the Government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and adhere to this decision that will reduce the number of UAE pilgrims from 6,228 to 4,982  for this year 1434 AH."