Free Hajj pilgrimage for Lanka tri-forces personnel

The Saudi Arabian Government has offered Muslim members of the Sri Lankan Tri-Forces sponsored opportunity to perform the annual Hajj Pilgrimage this year (2024), for the first time in history, according to the Defence Ministry.

This follows a request from the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Khalid Hamoud Alkahtani, made by the State Minister of Defence, Premitha Bandara Tennakoon.

The statement said that the Saudi Ambassador had made necessary arrangements to obtain five special quotas from the Saudi government in response to the state minister’s request.

It said that five special sponsored quotas were made available for the Muslim Tri-Forces personnel this year for the first time.

State Minister Tennakoon met Ambassador Alkahtani at his office in Colombo on Friday (Jun 07) to thank him and especially the Saudi Government for their magnanimity and earnest response in providing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to Muslim members of the Tri Forces to perform the Hajj pilgrimage this year, the ministry said.

The Saudi Ambassador thanked State Minister Tennakoon for making this request and said that he would personally be involved in increasing the number of quotas for defense personnel in the coming years.

Marking another first, he said that Sri Lankan Muslim defense personnel will also be able to perform the ‘Umrah’ pilgrimage in the future.

He also said that his government is committed to assisting all communities in Sri Lanka and that he looks forward to working closely with local officials.

Sri Lanka Hajj Committee member Milfer Gaffoor and beneficiary Tri-Forces members accompanied the State Minister to the Saudi Embassy.