Pakistan sends over 800 volunteers to Saudi Arabia to serve Hajj pilgrims

ISLAMABAD: A senior religious affairs ministry official said on Sunday the government had decided to send about 800 Pakistani volunteers to Saudi Arabia to facilitate Hajj pilgrims this year.
The ministry sends hundreds of volunteers from various government departments to the kingdom on an annual basis to assist pilgrims at airports and in the holy cities.
These workers also manage the transportation and food for all pilgrims while providing emergency medical services when required.
“Pakistan has a quota of over 81,000 Hajj pilgrims. Therefore, we are sending 810 volunteers to help them this year,” secretary religious affairs Aftab Akbar Durrani told Arab News, adding that Saudi regulations allowed one helper to accompany a group of hundred pilgrims.
“We have selected these volunteers from all parts of Pakistan,” he continued, “since there is no fixed quota for any province or region.”

Durrani informed that about one-fourth of helpers belonged to the Hajj medical mission which had one doctor and two paramedics for every group of 1,000 pilgrims.
“This year we are sending 243 health professionals on Hajj medical mission,” he added.
A majority of volunteers were selected from police, he said, since they usually displayed better stamina and greater capacity to deal with the harsh weather. Besides, these government employees also possessed superior ability to manage people.
“We have also selected some volunteers who have already been on the Hajj mission,” Durrani informed while pointing out that these helpers had good knowledge of various elements and requirements of the annual ritual.
Asked about the deployment and monitoring process, the ministry official said that volunteers were selected for various duties and sent to different places by the director general of Hajj who was based in Jeddah. There were other officials who monitored the performance of these volunteers, he added.

Speaking to Arab News, Abdul Basit, who was selected as a volunteer from the Kohat police department, said he was scheduled to leave for the kingdom early next week while expressing his resolve to serve the Hajj pilgrims to the best of his abilities.
“It was my dream to perform Hajj, and I cannot express my happiness in words,” he told Arab News.
“Allah has given me the opportunity not only to perform the pilgrimage but also serve His people,” he continued. “I want to do that with dedication and to the best of my abilities.”
He informed that volunteers would stay in the kingdom for 45 days after their arrival.

“Initially, we were trained at the Hajj complex and now we are helping pilgrims here,” he added.
Azhar Bashir, another volunteer from Islamabad who has already been sent to Makkah, said that his duty was to receive pilgrims from the airport in Jeddah and help them until they reached their accommodation in the holy city.
“We take pilgrims from the airport, help them with transportation to Makkah before making it more convenient for them to settle in their designated buildings,” he told Arab News over the phone while saying it was an honor for him to be serving Pakistani pilgrims.
The arrangements made by the government were also praised by people who intend to perform the annual Islamic ritual this year and have been in the kingdom for the last couple of days.
Waseem Ahmed, who arrived in Makkah on Friday, said he received good guidance from volunteers.
“From the Jeddah airport to our residence in Makkah, they guided and helped us,” he said. “They even shifted our luggage to our rooms.”