Dagestani Muslims could not buy out 2700 Hajj vouchers

Within the year the cost of making Hajj has grown significantly; and out of the quota of 6200 visitors, Dagestani Muslims could buy out only 3500.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that out of the total Russian quota for Hajj pilgrimage of 16,400 persons, Dagestan received 6200. In 2014, under the same quota, all the vouchers had been bought out well in advance.

This year, the cost of the tour ranges from 2900 to 5900 US dollars (200-400 thousand Russian roubles), an employee of the "Marva Tour" company, which organizes Hajj tours, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

One of the pilgrims named Khadjimurad told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that this year's cost is much higher than last year.

"Last year, a voucher was worth 150,000 roubles; now nearly 100,000 more. It's very expensive for citizens of the republic," he said.

Apart from the rise of the cost of the pilgrimage because of the fall of the rouble, exchange rate, the decrease of the number of pilgrims was also caused by the more complicated procedures of making documents, a member of the Hajj Committee of Dagestan told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. According to his story, since 2015, a biometric passport is a must for the Hajj.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.