The Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, has attracted an international repercussion with Saudi Arabia banning Congolese from coming into the country.
Saudi Foreign Affairs ministry announced it had suspended the issuance of visas to Congolese aiming to undertake the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
Ebola was in mid-July declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization, WHO. The outbreak is restricted to the east of the country where efforts are underway to contain and control it.
A Congolese Muslim leader disclosed that about 410 prospective pilgrims were initially billed to undertake the pilgrimage and it is quite painful that some of them who have been saving up for years are now denied visas to fulfil the fifth pillar of Islam.
