Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf has disclosed that over 40,000 Pakistani pilgrims who travelled to Iran, Iraq, and Syria have gone missing, with authorities having no record of their whereabouts.
The minister stated that this issue had also been raised by the governments of Iraq, Iran, and Syria. In response, the Pakistani government has introduced a new digital system to better regulate pilgrimage travel. Under the updated system, pilgrims will now be allowed to travel only through authorised and registered pilgrimage group operators.
More than 1,400 companies have applied to be registered with the Ministry of Religious Affairs. The new structure aims to replace the traditional caravan-based travel model, which officials say lacked transparency and control.
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According to the minister, the federal cabinet has approved the new framework, and the ministry has already issued public advertisements inviting applications from interested companies. Currently, 585 companies have been granted security clearance and have been asked to complete their online registration and submit required documents by July 31.
The ministry has also opened a second round of applications for additional group organizers, with a submission deadline of August 10.
Sardar Yousaf emphasised that managing pilgrimages to holy sites in Iran and Iraq is now a formal responsibility of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, alongside Hajj and Umrah. He noted that although a policy for organising such pilgrimages was approved in 2021, no meaningful implementation took place during the previous government.
