More than 44000 illegal expatriates, more than 99369 legal expatriates in Maldives- Immigration

Controller of Immigration and Emigration, Abdullah Shahid has stated that records show that there are 99,369 expatriate workers legally registered in the Maldives.

Speaking to the media, Controller of Immigration and Emigration, Abdullah Shahid said that it is estimated that there are over 44,000 illegal expatriate workers in the country.

Shahid said that this is nearly equal to the half of the total population of Maldives considering that the population is 340,000 people and considering that about 20,000 people are living abroad.

Shahid said that the Department of Immigration has taken some measures to address increasing numbers of illegal foreign labour. He said that these measures include changes in visa procedures.

Meanwhile, President Mohamed Nasheed also reiterated on the growing problem of illegal expatriates earlier in one of his weekly addresses. He underscored that the situation of illegal foreign workers reached an alarming level “due to failure to investigate illegal workers, and lack of a systematic approach to [monitor] arrivals, employment and living conditions of expatriates.”

He announced that the government has decided special additional measures to address these inadequacies. These measures, announced by the President, include launching a special investigation by the Police of any possible unlawful activity that might have led to increasing the number of illegal workers.