Rabat – A video showing Moroccan pilgrims complaining about the unsanitary conditions they suffered during the 2017 Hajj season in Saudi Arabia has created controversy on Moroccan social media.
While both Saudi and Moroccan officials claimed that Saudi Arabia saw a peaceful and uneventful Hajj season, many Moroccans have voiced complaints about the uncomfortable conditions they experienced during their stay in Mecca.In the video, a Moroccan pilgrim
In the video, a Moroccan pilgrim complains about the quality of food served during in Hajj, as well as having stayed in unsanitary accommodations in the holy city.
“This is the dinner offered to the Moroccan pilgrims: an expired juice box,” says the man as shows the camera an expired juice box. “Moroccans, if you are planning to come to the Hajj next year, you need to speak for your rights. There is only hunger and dirt.”
“The Moroccan officials who came with us did not offer any help. There is nothing called patriotism here … you can only see them hanging around as they are wearing their red caps,” he added.
“There is only theft and deception… this is what I can say to the Moroccan pilgrims who are planning to perform Hajj next year.”
Earlier this week, pictures were published online showing Moroccan pilgrims sleeping next to garbage plastic bags.
Pilgrims told Moroccan media outlet Hespress that there were more than 3,000 people staying in the camp, while the number of pilgrims in other camps is at most 2,000.
Despite the unhealthy living conditions, they say they have not heard from the Ministry of Endowment and Islamic Affairs.
Overcrowding in the Moroccan Hajj camp led to tension between pilgrims, one of them said, even though the pilgrimage is supposed to be a time of peaceful contemplation.
On August 25, three-hundred Moroccan pilgrims spent a rough night on the Mecca streets after they were defrauded by a Saudi travel agency. Despite having paid the necessary expenses for hotel reservations, Moroccan pilgrimage-goers were left without shelter on the streets of Islam’s holiest site “in shocking conditions,” reported Moroccan daily newspaper Assabah.
