Thousands of Yemeni Umrah pilgrims stranded at Al-Wadiah border crossing

HADRAMOUT, Feb. 19 (YPA) -Thousands of Yemeni travelers heading to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah are once again facing hardship at the Al-Wadiah border crossing in Hadramout province.

Pilgrims, residents, and visitors are experiencing severe congestion at the Al-Wadiah crossing in the Al-Abr area, amid absence of urgent solutions from Saudi authorities.

The situation has worsened with the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, which traditionally sees a significant surge in the number of people seeking to perform Umrah.

Hundreds of large transport buses belonging to travel companies, along with private vehicles, have piled up along the desert highway, creating heavy gridlock. No fundamental solutions appear to be in sight, raising fears that the crisis could escalate further during Ramadan.

Videos documented by travelers and activists at the crossing show shocking scenes of hundreds of buses stranded along the roadside, with widespread suffering among women and children.

The buses, carrying thousands of pilgrims, residents, and visitors, are awaiting clearance from Saudi authorities — a process that can take several days — under harsh environmental and weather conditions in the Al-Abr desert region.

Passengers said even the most basic facilities are unavailable in the waiting zones, leaving children, women, and elderly travelers stranded inside buses or exposed to the elements for long hours, further intensifying the strain of an already arduous trip.

They urged authorities to implement more efficient measures to manage the flow of pilgrims and visitors to the holy sites, such as deploying additional personnel at the crossing and enhancing advance booking systems to alleviate congestion and shorten waiting periods.

@E.Y.M