“It’s one of the first manifestations of climate change,” says a researcher

More than 1,000 people died, a very provisional toll, during the hajj, the great Muslim pilgrimage which took place in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, from Friday June 14 to Wednesday June 19? The gathering took place in extreme temperatures, which exceeded 50 degrees.“It’s very complicated to have an accurate count,” recognizes David Rigoulet-Roze, associate researcher at IRIS and editor-in-chief of the journal Strategic Orients. “The Saudi authorities do not like this type of counting. Every time there are deaths during the hajj, it affects the image of the kingdom, because it is he who organizes the modalities of the pilgrimage whatever in terms of security and logistics There have already been very significant deaths during the hajj, but they were accidental. What is quite unprecedented is that this is one of the first manifestations of climate change. “

Many pilgrims who died were not recorded. “Every year, there are a number of so-called “illegal” pilgrims, notes David Rigoulet-Roze, “who have not received proper authorization and who wish to perform the hajj because it is one of the five pillars of Islam. A situation which can prove truly dangerous for them, because they do not benefit from infrastructure such as air conditioning or access to water. “particularly when there are wanderings in the desert where the heat is extreme”, indicates the editor-in-chief of the magazine Orients Stratégiques.

The pilgrimage to Mecca represents for the Saudi kingdom both a challenge “symbolic, religious and economic”. It has the ambition to reach the number of 30 million pilgrims by 20230. “We are going to reach the limits both from a logistical point of view but also in terms of security”, concludes David Rigoulet-Roze .