PGO seeks probe into deportation of two expats despite court-ordered passport seizure
29 ޑިސެމްބަރު 2019 | އާދީއްތަ 10:02Their passports were ordered to be seized regarding two cases of drug smuggling
Undocumented workers filled up the Galolhu Stadium when the first round of the regularization programme opened up in October
Prosecutor General’s office (PGO) has sought a probe into the deportation of two expatriates at a time their passports were ordered to be seized by the Criminal Court.
The PGO revealed that they have filed a case at the National Integrity Commission to look into the deportation of the two expatriates, despite the Criminal Court having ordered to seize their passports in connection to two cases of drug smuggling, ongoing at the court.
RaajjeMV was unable to attain a comment for details regarding the drug-related cases from relevant authorities at the time of publishing.
The National Integrity Commission is tasked with the investigation of unlawful acts of law enforcement agencies such as the Maldives Police Service (MPS), Maldives Immigration, Maldives Correctional Service (MCS) as well as Maldives Customs Service.
This comes at a time the issue of Immigration office having deported two Bangladeshi nationals who were accused of money laundering through illegal business in two separate cases, had surfaced on a previous occasion as well.
While the department drew heavy public criticism over the matter, the matter was raised at the People’s Majlis as well.
Authorities earlier revealed that there is a total of 144,607 expatriate workers in the country out of the which 63,000 are undocumented, and launched a regularization programme on 19 September.
The government warned of action that would be taken against undocumented workers who did not register under the programme, announcing that a record of them who do not undergo the programme will be kept.
The programme was a result of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s decision to implement a policy on strengthening foreign labor regulations and to address the issue of an increasing number of cases in employment of migrant workers, illegally.
Further, the policy highlights ways to reinforce regulations on ways to handle illegal employment as well as the issuance of work permits and formulation of a ‘National Task-force on Issues Related to Migrant Workers’.
