Residents of Chechnya complain about method to distribute free trips to Mecca

300 residents of Chechnya will be able to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at the expense of the Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation, the Chechen authorities reported. Local residents claim the lack of transparency in the distribution of free trips.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that this year, the Muftiate of Chechnya expects the prices for trips to Saudi Arabia for pilgrims will grow by 20%. The rise in price reduced the interest of Chechen Muslims in making the pilgrimage, local residents said.

The Akhmat Kadyrov Foundation paid for the trips of 150 Chechen law enforcers who got disabilities or were injured while in the performance of duty, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed at the administration for the Chechen leader and government. "Furthermore, the Foundation paid for the trips of 150 poor people," the administration reported.

Local residents noted to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent the lack of transparency in the distribution of the trips for the Hajj.

"The criteria for selecting those to be financed by the authorities for the trip for the Hajj are completely unclear. The system lacks transparency. The preference is apparently given to relatives, friends, fellow villagers, and people from the same teip (clan). I know a lot of elderly people, honoured workers, disabled people, and orphans. Meanwhile, for all those years, no one of them has ever got an opportunity to go for the Hajj for free," noted Marina, an employee of a Chechen public institution.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 21, 2018 at 12:37 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.