According to Sudan’s Hajj and Umrah administration, the first group of pilgrims was sent on Tuesday from the seaport of Othman Digna in the eastern town of Suakin.
Shipping operations will continue over the next few days, for all those who have completed their steps to perform this ritual.
Difficulties in reaching Makkah
About 23,600 Sudanese have been accepted to perform Hajj for the current season. However, a source from the Sudanese Ministry of Endowments spoke to Sky News Arabia, saying that “a large number of pilgrims will not travel to the Holy Land, as they have lost contact with the Hajj administration and the Umrah, or because some of them did not pay the fees due to the outbreak of war.” Circumstances of the war have forced Sudanese to travel to Saudi Arabia only by sea, after air travel came to a halt following the destruction of Khartoum’s international airport and the escalation of military clashes around it. of this one. Pilgrims from all over the country must travel to the eastern port city of Port Sudan to be directed to Saudi Arabia. Besides the dangers of the roads leading to Port Sudan, which are teeming with looting gangs, the long distance to the coastal city has made people avoid Hajj this season, especially the elderly, although they have completed their procedures early and paid the required fees, which are estimated at the equivalent of 10,000 Saudi Riyals.
The Sudanese Eyes Experience
And speaking of the difficulty of the journey to reach the port and from there to Saudi Arabia, Aladdin Musa told Sky News Arabia: “My mother was planning to fly to Saudi Arabia, and we paid fee required, but now she cannot leave by sea due to the length of the road.”
He explained, “A distance of about 800 km awaits him to reach Port Sudan, which is very exhausting.â€
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However, people wishing to travel to Hajj from Khartoum are better off than those from Darfur and Kordofan regions in western Sudan, where they have to travel a distance of around 3,000 km to reach Port Sudan.
Despite this arduous journey, especially for the elderly, pilgrims began to move from the cities of El Fasher and Nyala to the seaport, in order to travel to Saudi Arabia.
“He was forced to use primitive means of transport to get to where the buses will take them to Port Sudan,” Hamid Abdullah, a pilgrim from North Darfur state, told Sky News Arabia.
He stressed that “he is aware of the difficulty of this journey, but he is determined to perform Hajj this year, an experience he has been waiting for all his life”.
He added: “When we started the Hajj procedures and paid the required fees, the war had not broken out, so our trip to Saudi Arabia and the payment of these sums was not a luxury. Pray for our country and its people.
Abdel Rahman, who is also seeking to perform Hajj, said he had moved with 3 other family members from West Kordofan state to Port Sudan, and officials from the state administration of Hajj and Umrah had accompanied them by bus.
He told Sky News Arabia: “We are very scared of the road as armed robbery gangs are spreading, in addition to military clashes in some places.”
And he continued: “The situation is very bad, but we decided to perform Hajj years ago, and it was our lot to go to Makkah under these difficult circumstances. Our trust in God is great. to make it happen and ask Him to remove this hardship from our homeland.”
Sudan is living a human tragedy following the war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces, which left thousands dead and injured. Life has also come to a complete halt in Khartoum due to continued bloody clashes.
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