RIYADH: To facilitate better communications, the General Directorate of Passports has fielded teams of of people who are fluent in 13 languages, for this year's Hajj. These teams will be able to converse in languages including English, Spanish, Indonesian, Japanese, Persian, Urdu, Turkish, Portuguese and Bangladeshi.
The teams have been employed at two of the major airports that cater to Hajj pilgrims - King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah and Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport, Madinah, Arab News reported.
This year, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has allowed close to 1 million people to embark on the Hajj, inviting pilgrims from foreign countries. For the last two years, the annual pilgrimage was restricted to residents of the country, due to the global covid 19 pandemic.