Number of undocumented expats repatriated from the Maldives crosses 4,200

The number of undocumented expatriate workers repatriated from the Maldives has crossed 4,000.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed on Saturday that the number of undocumented expatriate workers living illegally in the Maldives who have been sent back home thus far, sits at 4,205.

Close to 14,000 expatriate workers who volunteered to go back home under the government-initiated repatriation program, have been evacuated thus far.

Earlier, the government revealed that close to 100,000 undocumented workers are residing illegally in the Maldives without valid documentations and/or passports.

The state is to begin imposing fines on expatriate workers residing in the nation without proper documentation such as the employer visa from next week onwards, a procedure for which will be publicized soon.

Efforts are being undertaken by the Ministry of Economic Development to resolve this issue.

These efforts are being carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bangladeshi High Commission in the Maldives, with the assistance from the Bangladeshi government, after an announcement by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih during May following a surge in the number of Bangladeshi nationals testing positive for the global Covid-19 pandemic.

The majority of cases reported in the Maldives have been among Bangladeshi's, who were found to be vulnerable to the disease due to the lifestyles they are forced to adapt to as well as the confined living spaces they are forced to live in in large groups.

Earlier, the Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail stated that the government aims to send back at least 20,000 undocumented workers prior to the end of the ongoing year. Fayyaz noted that expatriate workers will not be send back home, without their consent.