Bangladeshi workers to require police clearance when migrating to Maldives

Bangladesh is working on introducing a system which will require workers to get police clearance when traveling to Maldives for work.

While there are thousands of Bangladeshis residing in Maldives, a number of them are undocumented and jobless. Hence, its government is working to draft "a standard deal with the Maldives."

While Bangladesh’s Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment (EWOE) in January had imposed restrictions on unskilled workers’ migration the Maldives in January, it is working to “make the recruitment system disciplined.”

Dhaka-based newspaper ‘New Age’ reports that a second MoU has been drafted to ensure the "safe and orderly migration of Bangladeshi workers to the Maldives."

The two countries had signed the first agreement in May 2011, which expired in 2016.

While a meeting was held on the matter in April, officials noted that recruiting agencies are “sending Bangladeshi workers to the Maldives on visit visas.” They added that this leads to them being undocumented, in turn making “legal migration difficult.”

At the meeting, a home ministry official suggested “a system requiring the workers to take clearance from the police for migrating to the Maldives.”

Furthermore, to lessen people’s interest in migrating to Maldives, an official also suggested to inform them of the conditions in Maldives, as well as the high number of deaths of Bangladeshi workers.