Umrah Visa Traffickers (1) Ustaz Abubakr Siddeeq Muhammad — Aug 8, 2014 | Leave a comment In September 2012, I wrote a piece here with similar caption – HAJJ VISA TRAFFICKERS - where I discussed how some of us, tour operators, live on visa traffic during the Hajj season, to the extent that the pilgrim is left with the hustle of logistics after paying a lot of money for the Hajj visa. However, today I want to look at Umrah visa-only racketeers, as well as the attitude of the Nigerian Umrah pilgrim in terms of the money he is charged or is willing to pay to secure that visa and what happens to the accommodation he paid for in Madeenah and Makkah if he fails to travel. The Umrah season of every year starts after the Hajj operations, and ends with Eidil Fitr. Umrah pilgrims around the world use these periods to travel for the lesser pilgrimage. Some of them perform Umrah twice or thrice at different intervals even before the month of Ramadan. Some also make use of their official trips; have a two-day stopover, for example, in order to perform the Umrah. Unfortunately, most Nigerians will only wait for Ramadan before they travel for Umrah. That has its merits, as the Messenger of Allah (SAW) has equalised the reward for Umrah in Ramadan to that of performing Hajj with him (SAW). The hadeeth refers to the entire month, but Nigerians have singled out the last 10 days for the performance of their Umrah in Ramadan, an act that compounds the issue we are discussing. What stops people from going for Umrah during the first or second 10 days of Ramadan? That would have lessened the risk of failing to travel for the Umrah altogether due to the limited number of visas for last 10 days of Ramadan. The Saudi Arabian authorities, due to the current expansion project of the Haramain, have devised a means of reducing the number of Umrah and Hajj pilgrims by allotting quotas to regions and countries in order to control the number of people around the two Harams and forestall stampede. Moreover, the hotel rates are higher during the period of the last 10 days than in any other. Nevertheless, many Nigerians, either for show-off or to gain more reward, prefer the most expensive period, and they often do not plan early. Most of these pilgrims will come at the last minute and insist on paying any amount to secure the Umrah visa. The law of demand and supply kicks in when that happens. If you want visas at any cost, there will be people willing to go to any lengths to get them for you. The visa could go as high as N500,000 per head especially when the Umrah portal is closed for obtaining Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) numbers without which no visa application will be accepted at the Saudi Embassy. Now, if Umrah visa is closed, but one could still get it at the higher rate of N500, 000 through visa racketeer agents, one may be tempted to assume a collaboration between some tour operators and some Saudi Embassy staff. I will revert to this later. Before the closure of the portal, when tour operators could process MoFA numbers, the visa goes for between N200,000 to N350,000 per passport. This is for visa only; no services attached. The pilgrim will have to arrange for his accommodation in both Madeenah, Makkah, and feeding, as well as his transport within the Kingdom. Who is at fault here, the pilgrim or the tour operator? Both! Whenever a full package option is presented to the pilgrim, he prefers going on his own arrangement. ‘I want visa only. I will sort myself out.’ He will say. That means charge me for the visa, I will take care of my logistics while in Saudia. The pilgrims thinks by doing this ‘visa-only thing’ he is saving money. He is not. It is akin to being kobo wise but naira foolish. Visa-only exposes the pilgrim to the risk of losing his money to the hotels where he has made reservations if he fails to get the visa. He gets no refund. He loses both the visa and the money he paid for his rooms in Madeenah and Makkah. This will not happen where he takes a complete package option, in which case the tour operator is now responsible for full refund of his money where he fails to secure Umrah visa for the pilgrim. The Saudi partners of the tour operator whose duty it is to provide visa, accommodation, and logistics for his Umrah pilgrims will have no reason to charge for what they have not rendered, and thus the tour operator will incur no loss either. Only when they have given the visa and the other services that go with it and the pilgrim does not make the trip will they refuse to refund the amount paid. At the end of the day, it is the pilgrim who is protected by this arrangement – if his visa comes out and he travels, he is sure of his board and lodging; if, on the other hand, his visa is not issued, his money is refunded in full with apologies. However, pilgrims, as I mentioned earlier, think they can save money through visa-only arrangement. Compute what you paid for your visa-only; say, N200, 000 and what you paid for your Madeenah/Makkah hotels, feeding and transportation within Saudia, to what is charged in any package similar to the arrangements you have made. You are certain to discover that your adroit plans are more expensive after all, not to mention the risk of losing your money with the hotels if you fail to get a visa. Going on religious pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia is not like tourism to Asia or Europe; even there, professional tour guides and government agencies handle certain aspects of the tour. Hajj and Umrah are much more complicated in terms of regulations of Saudi Arabia, concentration of millions of people in the same spot at the same time, and the spiritual essence of being at the holy territories in the first place. The tour operator’s fault is in accepting to issue the visa without accommodation and logistics. This is against the contract he signed with his Saudi partners. All visa requests must be followed with the booking of the desired accommodation of the applicant. The cost of the visa process, less accommodation, is not more than $100, about N16, 600 naira only. (Daily Trust of Wednesday, 10 July 2013 was wrong to claim Umrah visas are free. I have discussed that on this column in June 2013). Why, for Allah’s sake, will somebody be charged N200, 000 to N350, 000 for what costs about N17, 000 only? This is despicable! Many have paid this large sum of money, and even more, without getting either the visa or the refund of what they paid. Last year many of these visa-only pilgrims suffered loss on the money they paid for rooms in Saudia and what they paid visa racketeers for Umrah visa. Many people who incurred that loss and those who heard of the loss did not learn any lesson out of that bitter experience. They repeated the same thing this year. Someone said one of the clearest signs of insanity is to do the same thing repeatedly while expecting varying results; I pray this is not true of some of us. If all tour operators will be decent enough to reject the filthy lucre of visa-only from Umrah pilgrims, offer three to five star full package options, and be content with Halaal, they would have helped the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) in its efforts at sanitising the Umrah and Hajj industry in Nigeria. N350, 000 is adequate for a three star hotel arrangement, including Iftaar and Suhur, at least in the first 10 days of Ramadan. Why charge this much for visa-only? Nigerian pilgrims form one of the largest contingent in Umrah and Hajj operations to Saudi Arabia. If all tour operators in Nigeria will refuse visa-only arrangement, more than a hundred thousand Umrah pilgrims for the entire season will have no option but to subscribe to complete packages. This ensures value for money to the pilgrims, and Halaal earnings to the tour operators! We should remember this hadith of the Prophet (PBUH) that Abu Sa’eedinil Khudree narrated and which is part of At-Tirmidhiy’s collection: “The truthful and honest trader will be in the company of the Ambiyaa (Prophets), Siddeeqeen (the Truthful Ones) and martyrs in the Hereafter.” Next week, inshaa Allah, I shall dwell on NAHCON’s duty towards the Umrah tour operators, and investigating the collaboration, if any, between some tour operators and Saudi Embassy staff in Umrah visa trafficking leadership.ng/religion/380370/umrah-visa-traffickers-1
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 07:29:17 +0000
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