Saudi expels Nigerian women pilgrims without male guardian

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Saudi expels Nigerian women pilgrims without male guardian

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In Saudi Arabia, women must be accompanied by or have permission from a mahram a male guardian.

28 September,2012 06:34 pm

Saudi Arabia has started expelling 1,100 Nigerian women pilgrims for violating the kingdoms rule prohibiting Muslim women from entering the country without a male guardian.The government-run el-Eqtisad website quotes an unnamed Saudi official Friday as saying the women were detained after landing at the international airport in Jiddah. On Thursday, 171 were sent back and the rest will be returned to Nigeria. The report says some of the women have been detained since Monday.In Saudi Arabia, women must be accompanied by or have permission from a mahram a male guardian in order to travel.But in the past, authorities allowed women to perform the annual hajj pilgrimage in groups with male tour operators. There was no explanation for why the authorities were now enforcing the rule.