Minister of Home Affairs, Imran Abdulla has on Wednesday toured Malé Jail Annex, following mounting reports of its poor conditions.

During the visit, the minister had examined the conditions at the prison cells and discussed measures to be taken in order to address the issue of lack of space and unlivable conditions at the prison.

Home Ministry revealed that the minister had met with inmates and inquired on their concerns, having assured that the government will take adequate measures to tackle the issues that surface for them.

Further, Imran had urged the Maldives Correctional Service (MCS) to speed up the prison reform efforts.

State Minister of Home Affairs Ali Nazeer, Inspector of Corrections Ahmed Mohamed Fulhu and Commissioner of Prisons Abdulla Munaz accompanied Minister Imran during the tour.

This comes at a time MCS has been ordered to transfer all 25 detainees being kept at Malé Jail, to a safer zone within 48 hours, by the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM), due to the mounting safety concerns.

MCS was initially ordered to shut down the remand facility in April and HRCM in a statement stressed that the condition at the jail is worse than ever.

The government highly prioritizes prison reform and rehabilitating inmates in order to release them back into the society as adequate members of the community.