Saudi Arabia has revealed that Maldives will be receiving 453 quotas for Hajj pilgrimage this year.

The Ministry of Hajj and Umra of Saudi Arabia publicized a list detailing the Hajj quotas allocated to each country, via twitter. The list specified the number of pilgrims allowed from each country this year .

Maldives and the African country, Liberia, gets 453 quotas as per the list.

With Saudi Arabia announcing its decision to reduce the number of pilgrims, the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dr. Ahmed Zahir Ali has stated earlier that the Maldivian government did not receive any formal information regarding the reduction of quotas given to Maldives.

Speaking to RaajjeMV, the Minister stated that the Maldivian Embassy in Saudi Arabia has sent a letter detailing that Maldives would receive 45 percent of its usual quota this year. However, the Minister said that this may not be the exact amount of quotas that the Maldives will receive and the number might increase in the future.

The Minister stated that the confirmed number of quotas would be disclosed next week.

Maldivians have not taken part in Hajj pilgrimage over the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saudi Arabia eased its restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic and announced that the country would be allowing one million people to perform Hajj this year. As such, the country decided to allow individuals below the age of 65 who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as approved by the Saudi Health Ministry to perform the Hajj pilgrimage this year.

Pilgrims are mandated to provide a PCR test negative result.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, Saudi Arabia allowed 1,000 people living in the country to perform the Hajj pilgrimage, in 2020. They allowed 60,000 people to perform the Hajj pilgrimage, in 2021, with the ease in restrictions.