Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousuf has revealed that 40,000 pilgrims who traveled from Pakistan to Iraq, Syria, and Iran have gone missing, and the government has no knowledge of their current whereabouts. In light of this, Pakistan has made a major decision.
According to details, Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousuf stated in a statement that there is no information on where the 40,000 pilgrims went after traveling to Iraq, Syria, and Iran. The government has no record of the missing pilgrims, and Iraq, Iran, and Syria have raised this issue with Pakistan.
In his statement, Sardar Muhammad Yousuf said that the government has taken a major decision to organize the pilgrims by introducing a new computerized system. Under this system, pilgrims will now travel only through designated, registered pilgrim group operators.
So far, more than 1,400 companies have submitted applications to the Ministry of Religious Affairs to register as pilgrimage group organizers. The government is also introducing a new integrated system for pilgrimages to the holy sites in Iran and Iraq. The old caravan leader system will soon be abolished, and interested companies are urged to register immediately with the Ministry.
It is worth noting that the Ministry of Religious Affairs is responsible not only for Hajj and Umrah but also for pilgrims. In the past, there was no specific system for those traveling to Iraq, Syria, and Iran. The approval to organize pilgrims was granted in 2021; however, there was no significant progress on it during the previous government’s term.
