RIYADH (Middle East Eye) – Several human rights groups and Muslim organizations have joined a campaign condemning Saudi authorities for using the Hajj pilgrimage as a means of oppression, either by barring certain Muslims from attending or luring others into the country, only to have them arrested and deported to countries where they are at risk.
The Sanad Rights Foundation said in a statement on Thursday that Saudi authorities were using the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages as a means to “repress dissidents” who challenged the country’s policies.
“The Saudi government adamantly and repeatedly politicizes the Two Holy Mosques of Makkah and Medina, and made Hajj and Umrah a tool of repression, a means of eliminating opponents, and a way of supporting some authoritarian regimes,” it said.
In 2019, there were 2.5 million Muslims worldwide who performed Hajj. However, only 1,000 Saudis performed the annual Islamic ritual in 2020 in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The figure increased to 60,000 Saudi pilgrims in 2021.
This year, the kingdom’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced that the number of pilgrims had reached one million. All pilgrims must be under 65 years old, fully vaccinated against Covid-19, and show a negative antigen test within 72 hours of reaching Saudi Arabia.
While the pilgrimage has opened up to Muslims around the world, the rights groups are concerned about the protection and security of pilgrims who attend.
In 2019, MEE also revealed that Saudi Arabia denied Hajj visas to around 70 Palestinian refugees from Syria. A year prior to this, Qatar accused Riyadh of denying its pilgrims the opportunity to perform the Hajj pilgrimage - an act that is obligatory for every able Muslim to complete at least once in their lifetime.
“The Saudi regime also prevents many Muslims from performing Hajj or Umrah merely due to their political or ideological stances on some issues or for exercising their right of free speech,” Sanad said in its statement.
For nearly 100 years, Saudi monarchs have all adopted the honorary title of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, a way of bolstering their standing as leaders in the Muslim world.
The ruling Al Saud family has also been criticized for having complete say over who attends.
In 2020, al-Haramain Watch, a non-governmental organization, launched an online petition calling for a “unified Muslim administration from all Muslim countries” to manage the two Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
The petition, which was signed by more than 100 Muslim scholars, accused Riyadh of gross human rights violations and restricting minorities’ access to the holy cities.