TEMPO.CO, Riyadh - Hundreds of the pilgrims who died in fierce heat at this year's hajj were not officially registered with the Saudi authorities, with the result that many had no access to vital services like air-conditioned buses and cool-off tents.

The deaths highlight a looming challenge for organizers as climate change takes hold in the region: the practice of requiring official permits for such services is stirring concern that unregistered pilgrims could increasingly be exposed to life-threatening temperatures.

At the same time, high prices for official hajj packages are driving some Muslims to take cheaper unofficial routes to the ritual, even though these lack the crucial permits, and to exploit an easing of curbs on some other kinds of Saudi visas.

The unregistered pilgrims' lack of a permit made it difficult to provide them with services and care, the security spokesman for Saudi's Ministry of Interior, Colonel Talal bin Shalhoub, said in an interview on Saudi TV channel al-Arabiya.

Critics of the government say all pilgrims, whatever their status, should be protected from heat, and allege the authorities this year cracked down on unauthorized attendees.

"This focus on registered visit versus unregistered is a red herring ... If you are there and you need help, you should get access to it," said Khalid al-Jabri, a physician who worked for the Saudi security agency that oversees haj and is currently part of the Saudi opposition in exile.

Saudi Arabia's international media office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Saudi Arabia’s health minister, Fahad Al-Jalajel said in a statement that health authorities provided services to unregistered pilgrims on 141,000 occasions during the hajj.

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HEAT STROKE RISK

But he acknowledged that unregistered pilgrims "walked long distances under direct sunlight without adequate shelter or comfort", and added that 83% of the 1,301 fatalities were among unregistered pilgrims.

Pilgrims said those without permits had to walk at times in temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit), while most registered pilgrims were able to make much of the journey by air-conditioned bus.

A Reuters witness said he saw thousands walking on the highway near Mina, a vast tent city on the way to Mecca, rather than using buses like most registered pilgrims. Pilgrims told Reuters that Saudi officials routinely checked buses before departure to ensure only registered pilgrims were aboard.

Almost two million pilgrims made their way to Mecca this year to perform hajj rites as taught by the Prophet Muhammad to his followers 14 centuries ago.

It is not known how big the influx of unauthorized pilgrims was. But Saudi Director of Public Security Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Bassami said this month the kingdom had deported 171,587 people who were not residents of Mecca, in an apparent reference to people caught trying to perform hajj without a permit.

Heat-related deaths along the hajj are not new, but climate change has made hajj increasingly dangerous.

A 2021 study found that if the world warms by 1.5 C (2.7 F) above pre-industrial levels, the heat stroke risk for pilgrims on the haj will be five times greater. The world is on track to reach 1.5 C of warming in the 2030s.

"It's a situation that is only getting worse with time," said Elfatih Eltahir, co-director of the Jameel Observatory and a professor at MIT, who published a paper on the dangers of heat stress for pilgrims in 2019.

($1 = 3.7517 riyals)

REUTERS

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