Saudi Arabia bans Hajj pilgrims from DR Congo over Ebola outbreak

Muslims from Democratic Republic of the Congo have been banned this year to go for Hajj in Saudi Arabia due to Ebola outbreak in the eastern North Kivu and Ituri provinces of the country.

Saudi Arabia Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced Wednesday not to be giving visas to DRC Hajj pilgrimage.

The ministry said, “The granting of arrivals visas for people entering from DRC has been stopped, to conserve the well-being of pilgrims.”

World Health Organization declared last week the Ebola outbreak in parts of DRC. However, the organization said no country should close its borders or restrict travel or trade. It urged other African countries not to panic.

Until now more than 1,700 people in DRC have been killled due to Ebola that emerged about a year ago, said DRC’s health ministry.

During the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak in West Africa more than 11,300 people were killed.

Data from New York-based Congo Research Group reveals just 3 percent of the population in DRC are Muslims.

Annually more than 2 million Hajj pilgrims visit Mecca city and about 10 percent of them comes sub-Saharan Africa.

For all Muslims the Hajj pilgrimage is obligatory once in a lifetime but with the means to afford it. The pilgrimage is held for six days in holy city Mecca.