Police team "never" active in Syria

Maldives Police Service (MPS) has denied sending a team to Syria.

Police said this following reports of a special team being active in the war-stricken nation to recover refugees.

However, police denied this adding that a team from the police service “has never been active in Syria.”

Further noting that there are no such teams in Syria even now, police said that it is doing everything necessary following the government’s decision to bring back refugees.

At a press conference held in September, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih revealed that work is being carried out to bring back the Maldivian refugees in Syria especially children and women. He added that these individuals will undergo rehabilitation programmes before being released into society.

The government is also working on establishing a designated centre for rehabilitation- the De-Radicalization and Rehabilitation Centre- in Himmafushi island.

Last week, Police Commissioner Mohamed Hameed stated that Maldivian refugees in Syria will be brought back within six months.

He also disclosed that there are currently a total of 59 Maldivians stranded in Syria, out of which 91% are children and women.

The work to return the refugees is being conducted with two foreign countries, with sources saying that the Maldives collaborating closely with Turkey on these counter-terrorism efforts. A security team is to have departed there over a month ago.