Maldivian government will refrain from restricting interactions with Qatari citizens
Foreign Ministry announced that the government would not restrict 'people to people' interactions
President Yameen Abdul Gayoom (L) alongside King Salman of Saudi Arabia
The Foreign Ministry has said that the government will not place any restrictions on interactions between locals and Qatari citizens.
In a tweet posted early on Wednesday morning, the ministry said that the government would refrain from such restrictions despite severing diplomatic ties with Qatar.
Further, while international news sources – namely CNN – reports that the Maldives has closed its borders to Qatari nationals and is rushing to expel residents, the ministry had refuted this as well.
“The triad of Gulf nations, joined by Egypt, Yemen and Maldives, have halted flights to Qatar, closed their borders, and ordered Qatari citizens and diplomats out of their countries in the latest flare-up of long-simmering tensions, driven partly by the belief that Qatar is aligned too closely with Iran” an article on CNN politics says, co-written by Nicole Gaouette and Barbara Starr.
This reflects the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s statement condemning the government’s decision, where it said that the government’s ‘reckless’ decision would hinder Maldives’ international reputation.
While the ministry announced that it would sever relations with Qatar, echoing the decision made by Saudi Arabia and several other Arab nations. Since then, the government has also said that it would maintain economic ties with the Qatari government and corporations.
The Maldivian government claims to have made the decision on a matter of principle, in line with its no-tolerance policy towards extremism and religious violence.
