The public is hereby informed that the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has imposed strict restrictions for the 1446/2025 Hajj season. Among these restrictions are the exclusion of Embassy staff and other volunteers from the Sierra Leone community in the Kingdom who have been supporting the Presidential Hajj Taskforce during the Hajj in the holy sites of Arafat, Muzdalifa and Minah.
Following some fatalities during the previous Hajj season, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia introduced a quota system for participating countries in the 2025 Hajj. Sierra Leone has been allocated a quota of 2,000 pilgrims, with a 1% quota (20 spaces) designated for support staff. However, staff members of the Embassy and volunteers will not benefit from the said quota.
Consequently, other local support staff are not permitted to accompany our pilgrims to the sacred sites of Arafat, Muzdalifah, and Mina due to the risk of penalties imposed by the Saudi authorities. These penalties include:
-Declaration of a diplomatic agent as ‘persona non grata”
– Imprisonment
– Deportation
– A fine of up to 250,000 Saudi Riyals equivalent to Sixty-Seven Thousand United States Dollars ($67,000)
The Embassy regrets this development and is doing the best to support Sierra Leonean pilgrims during the Hajj in Makkah.
Meanwhile, the Embassy hereby admonishes Sierra Leonean nationals in the Kingdom to abide by the strict restrictions of the Hajj.
For further inquiries, please contact:
Abubakarr Bah, Information Attaché
Embassy of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Mobile: +966567766322
