Maldives Media Council (MMC) has revealed their decision to accredit journalists.

The council revealed that they plan to formulate a protocol under which journalists will be accredited and put it into effect, as soon as possible to ensure the rights of journalists.

This comes at a time a “journalist” who took part in the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) was slammed by Dr. Nazla Rafeeq for derogatory language used while referring to expatriate workers in the country. The “journalist” has since come under fire for his degrading remarks, described by some as xenophobic.

In light of this, the MMC has stated that the “journalist’s” actions were irresponsible and sought the Ras Online “journalist” and his editor to apologize to the public.

While the journalist started off his question during the press briefing by referring to expatriate workers with a slur, Dr. Nazla was quick to excuse herself and urge the journalists to use ethical language when referring to expatriate workers as “we are all humans”.

This response was met by public praise from social media users.