RIYADH — Around 19,400 pilgrims from Yemen, representing the country's official quota, will arrive in the Kingdom in the next two days thanks to the immense facilities provided by the Kingdom, Yemeni Minister of Interior Fouad Omar said. "This will nullify the rumors being circulated by the Houthi rebels that Saudi Arabia has prevented Yemenis from doing Haj this year," he said. He said all the difficulties facing the grouping of the Yemeni pilgrims as a result of the current unrest in the country had been solved during his recent meeting with Haj Minister Bandar Hajjar. Omar said the difficulties stemmed from the closure of airports and seaports as well as the Saudi consulates in the country. "The pilgrims will arrive in daily batches of 5,000 and will be issued the Haj visas on arrival by land at Al-Wadiea border point," he said. The minister said rest houses have been constructed at Al-Wadiea so that the pilgrims may take rest after the long hours of travel by land. Omar said they are currently discussing with the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) and the Foreign Ministry the modalities of transporting the air pilgrims. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education has instructed all the departments of education all over the Kingdom to facilitate the admission of the Yemeni students in the government schools and to exempt them from the grade aggregates needed for enrollment. The ministry's sources said the Yemeni students will be accepted in government schools according to the available seats otherwise they will be admitted in private school and the ministry will pay their fees. The sources said in order to be accepted the students should present copies of their iqamas, passports or the visitor's cards issued to them during the correction period in addition to their birth certificates. The students will also have to fill in application forms showing all their data. Some 464,000 illegal Yemenis who were living in the Kingdom before April 9 have corrected their residence status under a royal pardon.
