Raids have been conducted in several regions, to identify undocumented expatriate workers residing illegally in the Maldives.

The Maldives Immigration revealed that the raid operations were conducted at 14 locations.

So far, 66 migrant workers have been identified and taken into the custody of the department, under the operations.

They include 65 Bangladeshi nationals and one Indian national.

The immigration department is mainly targeting expatriate work sites, accommodation blocks and major catering establishments across the Greater Malé Region’s Malé and Hulhumalé.

The government resumed efforts to deport migrant workers residing illegally in the Maldives, back in June after a detention center was established and operations commenced.

The Ministry of Home Affairs established the “Immigration Detention Center” to hold illegal expatriate workers before being repatriated from the island nation.

The center, which has a capacity to hold up to 200 expats, is run under the Maldives Immigration. Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail had stated that only 40 people could be housed at a time at the previous immigration detention center in the Maldives.

The project was initiated in 2019, jointly by the Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the immigration department.

As part of the initiative, over 18,000 migrant workers were repatriated during the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, since the issue of undocumented expatriates residing illegally in the Maldives remains a growing concern, the efforts were kicked off once again.