Deportation of irregular expats expected to hit 5,000 next month

The number of irregular expatriates who are deported from the Maldives will hit 5,000 by the incumbent administration’s one-year anniversary next month, says Mohamed Shamaan Waheed, the Controller General of Immigration.

Earlier this year, the Homeland Security Ministry directed the formation of a special taskforce made up of Maldives Immigration Service and the police to crack down on illegal migration.

In a press briefing at the President’s Office on Tuesday afternoon, Shamaan said that the Immigration has set a target to deport 5,000 irregular expatriates in the one-year period from November 17, 2023 – when the new administration took office – to November 17 this year.

He said that 4,361 have been deported as of Monday.

Shamaan said this includes expatriates who were detained for violating the country’s immigration laws, those who asked to be voluntarily repatriated to their home countries, and those who were served notice to leave the country within a specific period of time.

“I believe we will therefore be able to reach our target of 5,000 irregular expatriates ahead of November 17, ahead of one year to this administration. I am very confident in this regard,” he said.

Shamaan also spoke about the ‘Immigration Watch’ – an anonymous online platform launched by Immigration on July 17 to report unlawful activities carried out by expatriates.

Shamaan said the ‘Immigration Watch’ received 861 reports as of Monday. He said the agency is either attending to or has completed 596 of these cases. It is in the process of verifying 70 of the reports, and have ruled the remaining 174 reports as unverifiable or irrelevant.

According to Shamaan, there are currently 135 expatriates in Immigration’s detention facility; 121 men and 12 women.

He also voiced concern over an increase in attempts to illegally enter the Maldives. He said that Immigration intercepted 51 attempts to illegally enter the Maldives via its air borders so far this year, many of which involved imposters and forged visas.