{"id":51950,"date":"2024-07-03T13:28:46","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T12:28:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=51950"},"modified":"2024-07-03T13:28:46","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T12:28:46","slug":"saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi visa crackdown left heatwave-hit Hajj pilgrims scared to ask for help"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>A Saudi visa crackdown left Hajj pilgrims feeling unable to ask for help in a killer heatwave<\/strong><strong>, survivors and the families of the de<\/strong><strong>ad told Climate Home.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For the first time this year, Saudi authorities required all pilgrims to wear identification on a &#8220;Nusuk Card&#8221; around their neck, allowing security forces to check they had the Hajj visa. Banners and phone messages warned against attending Hajj without this visa and many breaching these rules were deported.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A government-controlled <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kB1pY0hfA6M\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Youtube channel said<\/a> before the Hajj that the Nusuk Card &#8220;enables access to urgent medical care&#8221; and one survivor told Climate Home that, despite feeling tired and dizzy, he felt unable to ask for medical help for fear of punishment and deportation because he only had a tourist visa.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kB1pY0hfA6M?si=bZd9pJN2encjagUe\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Temperatures in Mecca reached 51.8C this year, an unusually high figure which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.climameter.org\/20240616-18-saudi-arabia-heatwave\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Climatemeter scientists have said<\/a> was &#8220;mostly exacerbated by human-driven climate change&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Over 1,300 people died during the heatwave and<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/ar\/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%B7\/20240624-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%86-%D9%88%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%A9-1301-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%AC-%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%B8%D9%85%D9%87%D9%85-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%BA%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%AD-%D9%84%D9%87%D9%85\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">more than four-fifths<\/a> of them were without official permits, according to Saudi Health Minister Fahad Al-Jalajel. Foreign governments have largely blamed travel agents for facilitating these irregular pilgrimages, while the Saudi authorities and climate change have mostly escaped blame.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>One of those without a permit was Ibrahim, a retired Egyptian head teacher. To dodge visa checks, he walked 19 km in the baking heat to Arafat, a sacred hill near Mecca. He told Climate Home that he had asked buses carrying pilgrims with permits to stop and take him &#8220;but no one stopped, no one helped us&#8221;.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/No_Hajj_without_a_permit?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#No_Hajj_without_a_permit<\/a> because services are directly linked to it, and accessing the Holy Sites without a permit is a violation that merits legal consequences.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Makkah_and_Madinah_Eagerly_Await_You?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Makkah_and_Madinah_Eagerly_Await_You<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/No_Hajj_without_a_permit?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#No_Hajj_without_a_permit<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Hajj_1445H?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Hajj_1445H<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aapODeC018\">pic.twitter.com\/aapODeC018<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (@MoHU_En) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MoHU_En\/status\/1793323782347657448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 22, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Fahad Saeed, a Pakistani climate scientist with Climate Analytics, told Climate Home: &#8220;The Hajj pilgrimage is a profound reminder to every Muslim of equality in the eyes of God. Yet, the disparity in the safety of pilgrims based on their financial means starkly contradicts this spirit of equality.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>Two-tier system<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The city of Mecca is where the founder of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad, was born and lived most of his life. One of the religion\u2019s five central pillars is that all believers should, if they\u2019re healthy and can afford it, visit the city at least once on a pilgrimage known as Hajj and carry out a series of rituals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since Muhammad\u2019s time, Islam has expanded across the globe and is now the religion of about a quarter of the world\u2019s people. As the Hajj takes place for a single five-day period each year, there are far more people wanting to take part than the city can handle. Over 1.5 million pilgrims arrived in Mecca for the event last June.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/cleanenergyfrontier.climatechangenews.com\/northvolt-how-a-swedish-battery-company-wants-to-power-europes-green-transition-with-sodium\/?utm_source=climatechangenews&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=sweden\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Beyond lithium:<\/strong> how a Swedish battery company wants to power Europe\u2019s green transition with salt<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Official visas to enter Mecca during the Hajj are rationed through a lottery system, working with specialist travel agencies. But some travel agents also advise pilgrims on how to enter Mecca without an official visa.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That was how Ibrahim, who had been saving up for the Hajj for thirty years, got to Mecca. He did not want to reveal his second name out of fear of the Saudi government&#8217;s punishment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He told Climate Home that he couldn\u2019t afford an official visa 500,000EGP ($10,000)<strong>. <\/strong>He entered Saudi Arabia with a normal tourist one and, with the help of a tourism company, he was able to bribe his way through checkpoints into Mecca.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He found accommodation in the suburb of Al-Aziziyah but authorities quickly raided the area before the start of Hajj. Many pilgrims without official visas were fingerprinted and deported but Ibrahim was just driven out of the city towards Jeddah.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/omyo2a8JEyQ?si=0xKSelDoQa40JpJ0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For 1,000 Riyals ($267), he found a taxi to take him back to Al-Aziziya where he hid until the first day of Hajj. This is the pilgrimage&#8217;s most important day\u00a0when pilgrims spend a day next to Mount Arafat, where Prophet Muhammad delivered his Farewell Sermon. There, they pray and ask for forgiveness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most pilgrims get buses from Mecca to Arafat but, worried about soldiers searching these buses, Ibrahim and his companions made the 19 km journey on foot. When he got there, the area was crowded and the temperature reached nearly 50C (122F). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 62-year old said he began to feel exhausted and dizzy even though he was not fasting that day. &#8220;<\/span>My foot, which had undergone three surgeries before, felt like a piece of fire. I could not walk&#8221;, he said.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Standing up in the heat lessens the blood flow to the brain, which can cause fainting but also heart or kidney failures, explained Mike Tipton, a British professor who advises athletes and soldiers on heat.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_51970\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-51970\" class=\"size-full wp-image-51970\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01133748\/Crwods-cropped.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"451\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01133748\/Crwods-cropped.jpg 800w, https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01133748\/Crwods-cropped-298x168.jpg 298w, https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01133748\/Crwods-cropped-598x337.jpg 598w, https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01133748\/Crwods-cropped-112x63.jpg 112w, https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01133748\/Crwods-cropped-768x433.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-51970\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Muslim worshippers make their way to cast stones as part of a symbolic stoning of the devil ritual on June 18, 2023. (Photo: Medhat Hajjaj\/apaimages)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ibrahim said that getting water for him was difficult and that he did not want to ask the clinics along the road to Arafat for medical help because of his lack of visa. \u201cWe saw the bodies of pilgrims on the road in need of help,\u201d he said, \u201csome of them were dead, some were suffering from heat exhaustion and no one was helping them\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The claim that irregular pilgrims were denied help has been made by many, including the official spokesperson for pilgrims from Iraq\u2019s autonomous Kurdistan region Karwan Stoni, who <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/live-news\/20240617-hajj-pilgrimage-ends-amid-deadly-saudi-heat-spike\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">told Agence France Presse<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> they could not access air-conditioned spaces that the authorities had made available. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ibrahim survived, completed his Hajj and returned to Egypt. But Jordanian cousins Tariq, 48, and Hossam Al-Bustanji, 52, were not so lucky. Their cousin Ahmed told Climate Home that their companions told him they died after walking about for seven or eight hours without any services.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey fell and pleaded for water but no one helped them\u201d, he said. \u201cTheir bodies were buried in Mecca and were not sent to Jordan despite our requests\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_51983\" style=\"width: 809px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-51983\" class=\"size-full wp-image-51983\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01160008\/Water-man-cropped.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"799\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01160008\/Water-man-cropped.jpg 799w, https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01160008\/Water-man-cropped-298x168.jpg 298w, https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01160008\/Water-man-cropped-598x337.jpg 598w, https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01160008\/Water-man-cropped-112x63.jpg 112w, https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01160008\/Water-man-cropped-768x433.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-51983\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pilgrims receive a spray of water from volunteers in Mecca on June 17, 2024 (Photo: Arab World Press)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While irregular pilgrims had it worse, even those with official visas suffered and some died in the heat. Jordanian Rania Bassam told Climate Home her brother and his family went to Mecca, where he volunteered as a doctor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She said they complained to her about the services provided and the extreme heat. Bassam&#8217;s brother later died in Arafat. \u201cHis body was identified by his fingerprint but we were prevented from seeing him and saying goodbye\u201d, she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tipton said that, while many of the dead were likely to be over 65-years old with existing heart problems, the heat can kill healthy young people too from heat stroke.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Without getting bodies into cold water, heat stroke can be a \u201crunaway route to hypothermia with death occurring at [a core temperature of] 40-44C\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Safer Hajj<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Campaigners are appealing to Saudi authorities to take measures that would reduce the risk of mass deaths, especially as the situation is expected to get worse as the world warms.<\/p>\n<p>A 2021 study published in Environmental Research Letters <a href=\"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.1088\/1748-9326\/abd067\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found<\/a> that if the world warms by 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels, heat stroke risk for pilgrims on the Hajj will be five times greater.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heat expert Mike Tipton said that they should encourage people to sit down when they can, reduce any stress, fan people and cool their hands, feet and bodies down with cold water. But, he said, it\u2019s difficult to look after so many people.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/climate-weekly.mailchimpsites.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sign up<\/a>\u00a0to get our weekly newsletter straight to your inbox, plus breaking news, investigations and extra bulletins from key events<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Limiting numbers would help, he said, and that\u2019s the route the authorities have been going down. Government reactions in Saudi Arabia and across the Muslim world have been to prosecute and crack down on travel agents who encourage pilgrims to evade visa laws.<\/p>\n<p>But that has not been enough to dissuade Ibrahim&#8217;s wife. Despite her husband&#8217;s ordeals, she is keen to follow in his footsteps next year, performing Hajj unofficially.<\/p>\n<p>But speaking in their Giza home, Ibrahim warned her against the idea. &#8220;You will not be alive again if you go unofficially &#8211; either you go on an official Hajj or not at all&#8221;, he said.<\/p>\n<p><em>(Reporting by Eman Muhammed and Joe Lo, editing by Joe Lo and Matteo Civillini)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pilgrims without the right type of visa were denied medical treatment, survivors say, during a 52C heatwave which killed hundreds","protected":false},"author":240,"featured_media":51969,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,521],"tags":[],"coauthors":[5196,4545],"class_list":["post-51950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adaptation","category-middle-east","type-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Saudi visa crackdown left heatwave-hit Hajj pilgrims scared to ask for help<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pilgrims without a special visa from the Saudi government were denied medical attention during a heatwave on this year&#039;s Hajj\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saudi visa crackdown left heatwave-hit Hajj pilgrims scared to ask for help\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pilgrims without a special visa from the Saudi government were denied medical attention during a heatwave on this year&#039;s Hajj\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Climate Home News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClimateHomeNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-03T12:28:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01133356\/Saudi-security-forces-cropped.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"451\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eman Muhammed, Joe Lo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ClimateHome\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ClimateHome\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eman Muhammed, Joe Lo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Eman Muhammed\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2bfdd1d4ead02e7e9b4d23982555c122\"},\"headline\":\"Saudi visa crackdown left heatwave-hit Hajj pilgrims scared to ask for help\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-03T12:28:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-03T12:28:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/\"},\"wordCount\":1442,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01133356\/Saudi-security-forces-cropped.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Adaptation\",\"Middle East\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/\",\"name\":\"Saudi visa crackdown left heatwave-hit Hajj pilgrims scared to ask for help\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01133356\/Saudi-security-forces-cropped.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-03T12:28:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-03T12:28:46+00:00\",\"description\":\"Pilgrims without a special visa from the Saudi government were denied medical attention during a heatwave on this year's Hajj\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01133356\/Saudi-security-forces-cropped.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01133356\/Saudi-security-forces-cropped.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":451,\"caption\":\"Security officials stand watch to check the Hajj permission papers of people travelling towards the holy city of Mecca in 2009 (REUTERS\/Caren Firouz )\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Saudi visa crackdown left heatwave-hit Hajj pilgrims scared to ask for help\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/\",\"name\":\"Climate Home News\",\"description\":\"Climate change news, analysis, commentary, video and podcasts focused on developments in global climate politics\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Climate Home News\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/01\/03155729\/Climate-Home-News-Logo-RGB-Colour.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/01\/03155729\/Climate-Home-News-Logo-RGB-Colour.png\",\"width\":2856,\"height\":862,\"caption\":\"Climate Home News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClimateHomeNews\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ClimateHome\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/climate-home-news\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/climatestudio\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2bfdd1d4ead02e7e9b4d23982555c122\",\"name\":\"Eman Muhammed\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/author\/eman-muhammed\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Saudi visa crackdown left heatwave-hit Hajj pilgrims scared to ask for help","description":"Pilgrims without a special visa from the Saudi government were denied medical attention during a heatwave on this year's Hajj","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Saudi visa crackdown left heatwave-hit Hajj pilgrims scared to ask for help","og_description":"Pilgrims without a special visa from the Saudi government were denied medical attention during a heatwave on this year's Hajj","og_url":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/","og_site_name":"Climate Home News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClimateHomeNews\/","article_published_time":"2024-07-03T12:28:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":451,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01133356\/Saudi-security-forces-cropped.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Eman Muhammed, Joe Lo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ClimateHome","twitter_site":"@ClimateHome","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Eman Muhammed, Joe Lo","Estimated reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/"},"author":{"name":"Eman Muhammed","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2bfdd1d4ead02e7e9b4d23982555c122"},"headline":"Saudi visa crackdown left heatwave-hit Hajj pilgrims scared to ask for help","datePublished":"2024-07-03T12:28:46+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-03T12:28:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/"},"wordCount":1442,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01133356\/Saudi-security-forces-cropped.jpg","articleSection":["Adaptation","Middle East"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/","url":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/","name":"Saudi visa crackdown left heatwave-hit Hajj pilgrims scared to ask for help","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01133356\/Saudi-security-forces-cropped.jpg","datePublished":"2024-07-03T12:28:46+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-03T12:28:46+00:00","description":"Pilgrims without a special visa from the Saudi government were denied medical attention during a heatwave on this year's Hajj","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01133356\/Saudi-security-forces-cropped.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/07\/01133356\/Saudi-security-forces-cropped.jpg","width":800,"height":451,"caption":"Security officials stand watch to check the Hajj permission papers of people travelling towards the holy city of Mecca in 2009 (REUTERS\/Caren Firouz )"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2024\/07\/03\/saudi-visa-crackdown-left-heatwave-hit-hajj-pilgrims-scared-to-ask-for-help\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Saudi visa crackdown left heatwave-hit Hajj pilgrims scared to ask for help"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/","name":"Climate Home News","description":"Climate change news, analysis, commentary, video and podcasts focused on developments in global climate politics","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#organization","name":"Climate Home News","url":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/01\/03155729\/Climate-Home-News-Logo-RGB-Colour.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.climatechangenews.com\/files\/2024\/01\/03155729\/Climate-Home-News-Logo-RGB-Colour.png","width":2856,"height":862,"caption":"Climate Home News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClimateHomeNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ClimateHome","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/climate-home-news","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/climatestudio"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2bfdd1d4ead02e7e9b4d23982555c122","name":"Eman Muhammed","url":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/author\/eman-muhammed\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51950"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/240"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51950"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51997,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51950\/revisions\/51997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51950"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=51950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}