Prospective pilgrims who were left stranded at the Hajj Village will be airlifted to Saudi Arabia on Monday September 5.
The Saudi authorities gave clearance for their flight on Thursday.
The stranded prospective pilgrims called on the government to, as a matter of urgency, come to their aid to facilitate their journey to Saudi Arabia for this year’s pilgrimage.
A press statement co-signed by the spokesperson and convener for the stranded pilgrims, Mohammed R. Abdul-Rahman and Shehu Alwala Abdi, said 11 scheduled flights to Saudi Arabia have left Ghana, yet hundreds of prospective pilgrims who have paid for the trip are stranded at the Hajj Village without any reliable information on when they will travel.
The stranded pilgrims also accused the hajj authorities of deceiving them about when they will be airlifted to Saudi Arabia. According to them, they have been left to the mercy of the weather and poor living conditions at the Hajj Village.
“It is pointless for the government to facilitate the smooth departure of flights in Tamale to aid our brethren in the north, while hundreds of passengers remain stranded in Accra under very terrible human conditions and are about to be denied our right to make the dream holy journey,” the statement said, adding: “If the government is truly committed to ensuring a smooth passage to hajj for all Muslims, then it should, as a matter of urgency, come to the aid of those of us who are stranded at the Hajj Village.”
But spokesperson for the Hajj Board, Mohammed Amin Lamptey, has told the media that all is being done to airlift the pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.
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