“Travel agency principal who deceived pilgrims was detained.” “Scammers deceive about 50 pilgrims from Almaty and Shymkent.” “Tokayev demands to punish those who deceived Kazakhstanis who went to Mecca for hajj.” These are the headlines of Kazakhstan media during the pilgrimage of Muslims to holy places. CABAR.asia figures out why there are problems related to hajj.
Problems related to hajj have been raised for many years. Thus, theologian Askar Sabdin on his Facebook page suggested in 2021 that there could be a corruption component in the hajj organisation in Kazakhstan, including the distribution of quotas among pilgrims.
“There have been messages of Kazakhstan-based travel agencies to the ‘Atameken’ National Chamber of Entrepreneurs (e.g., register of issues No. 572 dated 04.09.2017), there have been certificates of authorities from neighbouring countries, where the non-transparency of the procedure was emphasised,” Sabdin said.
Religious scholar Ali Ukenov also thinks that insufficient transparency of quota distribution in Kazakhstan may raise doubts about the honesty of the process among the religious population.
Quotas between the states are allocated by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia. Every country receives nearly 0.1 per cent of total number of Muslims living in the country, Ukenov said.
“The actual filling up of the quota may vary and depend on various factors such as demand, capacity of Saudi Arabia to receive pilgrims,” Ali Ukenov said.
The pilgrims worry about the trip prices.
“Despite high competitiveness between travel agencies, and more or less regulated prices, it is still extremely expensive to go to major hajj. It costs about 6,500 dollars to stay somewhere far away [from the site] without a tent,” a woman (who wished to remain anonymous) who went to hajj said to CABAR.asia.
The prices, or to be more exact, their rise, can also cause rumours about corruption practices in the organisation of the religious ritual. However, the rise in prices could be related to objective factors too, said Ali Ukenov.
“These could be changes in the domestic law of the host country (Saudi Arabia), emergence of direct air flights, rise in prices of transfers and transportation within Saudi Arabia, as well as fluctuations of the national currency of the Republic of Kazakhstan,” the expert said.
One more problem is the choice of travel agencies and unawareness of Kazakhstanis about the official list of travel agencies allowed to organise pilgrimage by the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Kazakhstan (DUMK).
One of the most effective solutions to minimise corruption risks is to increase transparency of the process, as well as to ensure equal opportunities for travel agencies organising hajj, Ali Ukenov said.
Askar Sabdin in his post on Facebook suggested this option: “To make prominent social activists part of Kazakh hajj delegation and hajj mission (delegations to hold talks on pilgrimage organisation – Editor’s note). The activists should not be affiliated with official agencies and the muftiat and should be able to ensure are transparency of procedures, to demonstrate their perseverance during the talks (with authorities of Saudi Arabia – Editor’s note) and legitimacy of quota distribution.”
The similar practice has already been introduced, said Zhandilla Bekzhigitov, head of the hajj department of DUMK, to CABAR.asia.
“A special commission consisting of social and religious activists who are not related to the pilgrimage shall be formed to allocate seats to pilgrims. Members of the commission shall collect requests [from potential pilgrims] and consider each request thoughtfully. Then, they decide jointly on who of applicants would go to hajj,” Bekzhigitov described the process.
He explained that the DUMK is not a commercial structure, so private travel agencies organise the hajj. They must meet strict requirements, including availability of a state travel license, five years of experience, office premises and tax payments. The commission reviews the documents of travel agencies and makes the official list of companies that may organise the hajj. For example, there are 17 travel agencies on the list of companies that may provide services to pilgrims in 2024.
According to Bekzhigitov, it is technically impossible to have any corruption risks when selecting travel agencies because the selection is made via an open tender and only the firms that are able to organise the large-scale pilgrimage are being selected.
To improve hajj organisation, according to Ali Ukenov, ‘campaigns on creating and raising awareness of Kazakh Muslims on thorough preparation for hajj’ must be held. Bekzhigitov shares his opinion. According to him, media must tell actively about the list of travel agencies approved by the DUMK and only these agencies must be contacted to avoid scammers.