Crimeans will not Perform the Hajj to Mecca based on Russian quotas

Provision by the Russian Federation for a quota of 300 Crimeans who can perform the Hajj is illegal and violates the sovereignty of Ukraine.

Krym.Realii [Radio Liberty’s Crimean service] reports this was stated by Mustafa Dzhemilev, the Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for the Affairs of the Crimean Tatar people.

According to him, the ambassador from Saudi Arabia, which intends to assist in the financing of Hajj for 200 pilgrims from Crimea, is aware of the fact that the allocation of quotas by Russia is regarded as a violation of the sovereignty of Ukraine.

“According to press reports, the quota of 300 Muslim Crimeans is included in the list with the quota which they provide for Russia. This is illegal. We talked about this with the Saudi ambassador who will carry it to his superiors because it is a violation of our sovereignty. Maybe the Ministry of Hajj is not very versed in these intricacies. But, we firmly stated that the Muslims making Hajj from the territory of Crimea should only be on Ukrainian passports and shall only be considered from the territory of Ukraine and on the Ukrainian quota,” emphasized Dzhemilev.

He noted that Crimeans who utilize the Russian quota will violate the law.

“If the embassy finds out that they are cheating, showing some other passports issued in other parts of the Russian Federation, this is a sinful phenomenon and they can be expelled from the territory of Saudi Arabia. This, in any case, is the agreement we have,” added Dzhemilev. 

In 2014, 150 Crimean Muslims went to Mecca. This year, the Muslims residing in the territory of Crimea are allocated a quota of 300 for Hajj. Pilgrimage to Mecca is a special religious ceremony that every Muslim is obliged to make at least once in their lifetime.