# Saudi Arabia is ramping up a crackdown on unregistered worshippers at next week’s hajj pilgrimage. Regular raids, drone surveillance and a barrage of text alerts are aimed at rooting out unauthorised visitors in and around the holy city of Mecca. The simple message, “No hajj without a permit”, is being blared out in a relentless campaign promoted nationwide at shopping centres, on billboards and across media platforms. Last year, one-thousand-301 pilgrims, most of them unregistered and lacking access to air-conditioned tents and buses, died as temperatures soared to 51.8 degrees Celsius.
Saudi Arabia ramps up crackdown on worshippers without permits at hajj pilgrimage