Failure to control demonstrations by migrant labourers threatens national security, says police.

Officials of the Maldives Police Service were summoned to the parliament’s committee on national security and foreign relations on Monday, for questioning in relation to the protests being staged by migrant workers.

Responding to a question by committee chair and Maradhoo constituency MP, Ibrahim Shareef, over how big a threat these protests pose to the country’s security, Chief Superintendent of Police Mohamed Basheer noted that there are thousand of foreign workers across the country “without valid documents”.

Noting that an increase in these protests will lead to challenges in controlling them, Basheer said that this is a huge threat to national security.

While labourers at Island Experts Private Limited staged a protest in Hulhumalé on Monday morning, the senior police official noted that equipment at the site were damaged during this.

Migrant workers are protesting over months of unpaid wages.