KSA seeks fingerprints of Hajj pilgrims

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has asked for  fingerprint records of all Bangladeshi pilgrims intending to perform this years Hajj in the holy land. The Ambassador of the KSA in Dhaka Abdullah Bin Naser Al Basiri yesterday conveyed the decision of the KSA government at a meeting on Skype with top Bangladeshi officials at the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) on Hajj management yesterday, meeting sources said.
The ambassador said they have sought it last year but had deferred it on a special request from Bangladesh seeking time. Chaired by Abul Kalam Azad, principal secretary to the Prime Minister, the meeting  was attended by officials from the ministries of home, foreign, religious affairs and civil aviation and the Department of Passports and Immigration. The meeting decided to consult the experts on how to give the fingerprints of Hajj pilgrims to the KSA authorities.
The authorities concerned want to clear the immigration of pilgrims on arrival, matching their fingerprints in the machine readable passports (MRPs), which would enable them to quickly process each pilgrim.
The meeting also decided to step up the security at the Hajj camp in Ashkona near Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport with a three tier security to fend off any possible terror attack. Principal Secretary to the PMO Abul Kalam Azad told The Independent, “We are assessing whether it is possible to send the fingerprint collections on the MRP to the KSA government. If it is possible, we would send these to the Saudi immigration authorities to reduce the hassles of the hajj pilgrims.” “We have also requested the KSA ambassador and the Saudia Airlines representative in Dhaka to make arrangements to reach the baggage of the pilgrims to their respective hotels as many pilgrims find it difficult to carry these,” he added. Bangladesh Biman, the national carrier, has similar facilities for hajj pilgrims.

 

KSA seeks fingerprints of Hajj pilgrims

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has asked for fingerprint records of all Bangladeshi pilgrims intending to perform this years Hajj in the holy land. The Ambassador of the KSA in Dhaka Abdullah Bin Naser Al Basiri yesterday conveyed the decision of the KSA government at a meeting on Skype with top Bangladeshi officials at the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) on Hajj management yesterday, meeting sources said. The ambassador said they have sought it last year but had deferred it on a special request from Bangladesh seeking time. Chaired by Abul Kalam Azad, principal secretary to the Prime Minister, the meeting was attended by officials from the ministries of home, foreign, religious affairs and civil aviation and the Department of Passports and Immigration. The meeting decided to consult the experts on how to give the fingerprints of Hajj pilgrims to the KSA authorities. The authorities concerned want to clear the immigration of pilgrims on arrival, matching their fingerprints in the machine readable passports (MRPs), which would enable them to quickly process each pilgrim. The meeting also decided to step up the security at the Hajj camp in Ashkona near Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport with a three tier security to fend off any possible terror attack. Principal Secretary to the PMO Abul Kalam Azad told The Independent, We are assessing whether it is possible to send the fingerprint collections on the MRP to the KSA government. If it is possible, we would send these to the Saudi immigration authorities to reduce the hassles of the hajj pilgrims. We have also requested the KSA ambassador and the Saudia Airlines representative in Dhaka to make arrangements to reach the baggage of the pilgrims to their respective hotels as many pilgrims find it difficult to carry these, he added. Bangladesh Biman, the national carrier, has similar facilities for hajj pilgrims.