More than 7,000 Filipino Muslims are expected to travel to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj, a sacred pilgrimage that is one of the pillars of Islam, the Bureau of Immigration said.

Given this number, Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco directed BI personnel to ensure the speedy and unhampered departure of pilgrims.

Tansingco ordered the airport terminal heads to designate focal persons who will coordinate with officials of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) in obtaining an advance list of passengers who will be traveling to Mecca for the pilgrimage.

The agency will then subject passengers on the list to advance derogatory checking and verify if any one of them is subject to hold departure orders or watchlist orders.

A special lane for the Hajj pilgrims will also be designated in the different airports to ensure that they are quickly processed by immigration officers before their departure.

The BI focal persons were instructed to establish lines of communication with their counterparts from the NCMF so they could jointly address whatever problems may arise or be encountered by the pilgrims regarding their travel.

Members of the BI’s border control and intelligence unit were directed to assist the pilgrims in queuing at the airport’s immigration departure counter prior to their flights.

This year’s Hajj will take place from June 26 to July 1.