Hajj 2016 debrief at Parliament and good practice commended

The event organised by the Council of British Hajjis (CBHUK) also aimed to honour good practice within the industry and highlight any areas of concern.

The event was supported by Yasmin Qureshi MP and Shabana Mahmood MP.

Yasmin Qureshi MP at the event with Rashid Mogradia of the Council of British Hajjis (CBHUK)

The session comes at a time when the industry had come under intense scrutiny.

In recent years there has been a concerted effort by organisations such as the City of London Police to tackle concerns by those making the annual pilgrimage.

Rashid Mogradia, CEO of CBHUK said, “As we reflect on the past decade and on our achievements, we understand the challenges and look forward to the future to make significant impact to the UK Hajj & Umrah sector.

"We are delighted to recognise the great work in this industry through the launch of our ‘Excellence Awards’ and support new initiatives which will ultimately benefit pilgrims.” 

The City of London Police were commended for their work in helping to tackle Hajj Fraud.

The event saw the launch of the Licensed Hajj Organisers (LHO) who are working with CBHUK to enhance services for pilgrims and also help tackle travel fraud.

Iqbal Patel, Director at LHO said, “Our association is a self regulatory body comprising of Ministry of Hajj & Umrah licensed agents (Munazzams) who also hold an Air Travel Organisers License (ATOL).

"For a number of years, the industry has been targeted by unscrupulous tour operators who defraud pilgrims off their savings and depriving them of the journey to Makkah, we want to put a stop to this trough strict membership criteria and a industry code of conduct which our members must follow”.