KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian haj pilgrims stranded in Makkah need to lodge a complaint or make an official report to Tabung Haji and the Malaysian embassy in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, immediately for further investigation.
TH group managing director and chief executive officer Syed Hamadah Syed Othman said it would collaborate with the Malaysian embassy in Saudi Arabia to conduct investigations based on the information provided by the pilgrims, who were allegedly deceived by an travel agency offering cheap haj packages.
"We advise all umrah pilgrims still in the Holy Land to comply with the regulations set by the Saudi Arabian government as the umrah pilgrimage will close on May 15, in preparation for the haj season.
"The regulations set by the Saudi Arabian government and TH aim to safeguard the welfare and safety of pilgrims during the haj season," he said in a statement today.
TH was responding to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar's call to investigate the incident involving 300 prospective haj pilgrims who were stranded in Makkah after being deceived by a travel agency that offered them cheap haj packages.
Earlier, it was reported that about 300 Malaysian pilgrims in Makkah couldn't perform the haj as the umrah tour agency responsible for organising their pilgrimage had applied for tourist visas instead of haj visas.
In a post on the Forum Umrah DIY page on Facebook, a user known as Zhyema Zhyedee said her friend, who is among the affected pilgrims, had reached out to her for assistance after realising the group had been misled by the company.
She claimed that the tour agency had assured her friend that the pilgrims would get bracelets, which would permit them to perform the haj, but this promise remained unfulfilled.