Over 500 Bangladeshi nationals are to be sent home this weekend.

This was revealed at the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC)’s Covid-19 press briefing on Thursday night.

Spokesperson Mohamed Mabrook Aziz had revealed that over 500 Bangladeshi nationals will be departing the Maldives on May 16 (Saturday).

Noting that two flights have been arranged for the repatriation, Mabrook added that the flights are being arranged through joint efforts by the national airline, Maldivian, as well as Biman Bangladesh Airline.

While authorities have been working to send off over 1000 Bangladeshis in the Maldives, some of these individuals were transferred to an isolation facility in Hulhumale' for testing earlier this week.

Over 50 percent of the confirmed Covid-19 cases in the Maldives are Bangladeshi nationals.

Most of the migrant workers in the Maldives are forced to live in congested living spaces, especially in capital Malé.

Authorities began a community surveillance targeting Covid-19 vulnerable migrant households in April, and work is underway to move migrants in such congested areas with a number of them moved already. While some were moved to accommodation blocks, work is underway to reclaim a 30-hectare land in Gulhifalhu to develop additional accommodation facilities for expatriate workers.

Addressing the public earlier this month, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih stated authorities were working to send about 1,500 undocumented workers from Bangladesh. He added that it will be done after discussions with the government of Bangladesh.

The president also said that there are a number of homeless migrants without valid documents as well as means of an income and stressed that “they were brought here by Maldivians”.