Indonesian pilgrims
flood Corniche in post-Haj visit
Saturday 17 November 2012
The Red Sea coastline here is flooded with visiting foreign Haj pilgrims for sightseeing.
Foreign Haj pilgrims, especially Indonesians, say are keen to visit various parts of Jeddah in general and Corniche in particular. Most of Indonesian pilgrims pay an additional SR. 400 to SR 600 depending upon class of tour operator, who arranges Haj visit and visits to various renowned monuments of Jeddah city is included in the package.
However, the visits are largely confined only to shopping in downtown, Balad and Fatimah Zahra mosque at the Corniche, which is commonly known as floating mosque.
Indonesia largely comprises islands amid of shores, yet Indonesian men and women opt to spend long hours at shores of Red Sea. There are approximately 1,400 mosques in Jeddah and four mosques are located at north side of Corniche.
Among the all visitors at the site it’s Indonesians who are in vast majority over there and can be find sitting on sand at down side the mosque and upper levels besides adjacent footpaths and sitting areas. Barely any space left to other than Indonesian visitors.
Almost every Indonesian visitor wants to capture the scenes surrounding areas through their cameras and mobile phones. Some prior but many come after the Haj. Indonesian pilgrims start to arrive from morning and stay until sunset.
The prime cause behind such heavy rush from Indonesian pilgrims is that many pilgrims believe that Fatima Zahra mosque is built on the spot of grave of Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Several Indonesian expatriates are selling their ethnic food and some herbs to their countrymen and women. Surrounding area is filled with odor of ethnic Indonesian food prepared by some expats on the site in hazardous conditions. Some Indonesian photographers with instant Polaroid cameras are busy taking snaps of visitors for SR 10.
In downtown, Balad area’s Corniche commercial center also one of the preferred area of visiting Indonesian pilgrims. A four-star hotel inside the Balad area is largely occupied with Indonesian visitors in the post-Haj period.
The cemetery of Hawa also an important attraction to Indonesians as they believe this is the grave of mother Hawa, first woman on the earth, although Islamic scholars repeatedly insist that Hawa grave does not exist in the cemetery. Nearby, Juffali Mosque is also often visited by pilgrims from Indonesia as part of their tour package.
Among the global Haj pilgrims, Indonesians has unique pattern to visit Jeddah apart of two holy cities in Kingdom.
http://www.arabnews.com/indonesian-p...post-haj-visit
Number of Egyptian
overstayers hits 700
Thursday 15 November 2012
JEDDAH: The number of Egyptian pilgrims who have overstayed their Umrah visas has grown to about 700 over the past few days. This figure includes children. This number has not been officially confirmed though.
In an attempt to get repatriated, the pilgrims have been sitting in front of the Egyptian Consulate in Jeddah and have now occupied private residential buildings in the vicinity.
Most of them are now experiencing difficulty as water and food supplies are low and they have resorted to sleeping on the street.
In September, 300 Egyptian visa overstayers were granted repatriation. Saudi immigration has since been less lenient.
These men and women had arrived earlier in the year on Umrah visas and had since stayed on illegally to wait for the Haj season.
Most of these pilgrims do not have their original passports, which are believed to be in the possession of travel operators. Repatriation by the Egyptian consulate would possibly let them bypass any penalties.
Egyptian Consul General Adel Al-Elfy and other high-ranking officials are monitoring the situation and insist that the pilgrims should respect the law and follow the immigration procedure of the Kingdom.
Around 80,000 Haj visas were issued to Egyptian pilgrims this year.
http://www.arabnews.com/number-egypt...ayers-hits-700 
