Discussions have been held regarding measures that can be implemented in order to address the issue of ongoing protests by expatriate workers in the country.
During a meeting held at the President's Office on Monday, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih met with the National Security Council (NSC) and relevant senior officials to discuss the issue of expatriate workers in the country taking to the streets regarding the long-drawn-out delay in unpaid wages.
The president and relevant stakeholders deliberated on the rising tension between groups of expatriate workers and locals and the threat this poses to national safety.
Solih stressed that this issue paves way for challenges to law enforcement.
Participants of the meeting had agreed that resolving the issue should be an “urgent national security priority”.
Officials from the NSC were inquired regarding their efforts to ensure public safety.
Alongside measures that may be taken to address the issue, the president also deliberated on actions to be taken against parties that violate the laws of the country.
The issue of unpaid wages triggered a series of protests in the Maldives, which began from peaceful protests in May and consecutively turned savage from the Bodufinolhu unrest. As such, over 200 expatriate workers in the island, being developed as a resort, held 13 Maldivians hostage and secured the island, having inflicted damage on buildings and property and even attacked police officers.
Following the incident, 19 expatriate workers were taken under police custody. However, the protests continued in Hulhumalé, the capital’s suburban extension.
In recent protests on Monday morning, officers arrested 41 expatriate workers who threw bricks at police officers and dented government vehicles.
Out of the nearly 200,000 expatriate workers currently residing in the Maldives, over 60,000 were identified as undocumented workers residing illegally without a valid passport and documents.
The government has since begun a repatriation exercise for these expatriate workers, where over 3,000 undocumented workers have been sent back home since the global Covid-19 pandemic surfaced in the Maldives.
