Govt. sets up taskforce in migrant crime crackdown; some deported

Homeland Security Minister Ali Ihusan says his ministry has set up a special taskforce in a crackdown on crimes committed by migrants.

In a press briefing on Wednesday, Ihusan said that 53 migrants have been detained and some of them deported as part of the efforts by the taskforce.

Highlighting on the longstanding issue of undocumented migrant workers, Ihusan said authorities found some of companies are shut down immediately after they bring in migrants on work permits.

“Some of these companies have over 1,000 active work permits. They are irresponsibly releasing foreign citizens into the society in this manner,” he said.

“We, the Homeland Security and Technology Ministry, see this as a national security issue.”

Ihusan promised to mete out “the harshest legal punishment” against those who smuggle in migrants.

He also spoke about the controversial decision earlier this week, to allow the recruitment of unskilled laborers from Bangladesh, while keeping recruitment of unskilled laborers from other countries suspended.

Ihusan, who had previously defended the decision, said on Wednesday that the government had decided to also allow unskilled laborers from India and Nepal, in addition to Bangladesh.

“This means that starting today, it is permitted to recruit unskilled laborers from India and Nepal. The operations will also return to normal for other countries, once our assessments are done,” he said.

The latest statistics released by the Economic Ministry show that most of the migrant workers in Maldives are from Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka. There are 139,220 Bangladeshi workers in Maldives on active work permits, and 94,553 from India and 30,817 from Sri Lanka.