Maldives foreign labor management is in dire need of reform: minister

Foreign labor management practices in the Maldives has been in “dire need” of modernization and reform in order to battle exploitation and ensure welfare of migrant workers is guaranteed, says Minister of Economic Development, Fayyaz Ismail.

The minister made this remark in his address to the Review of Maldives session in the third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review, virtually on Wednesday evening.

He presented an intervention on migrant workers and human trafficking at the 26th session of the UPR Working Group.

Delivering the intervention, the minister noted that the topic of the migrant workforce and human trafficking has posed “numerous” challenges to the policymakers of the island nation and that this had been happening over the past few decades.

In light of this, Fayyaz stated that in order to battle exploitation and ensure welfare of the migrant workforce, the foreign labor management practice is in “dire need” of reform.

Assuring the UPR Working Group that the Maldivian government is resolute in its commitment to provide a safe environment for expatriate workers to reside in the Maldives, Fayyaz stated that key actions have already been implemented to safeguard expatriate workers.

However, there are much more to do in order to address the vulnerabilities that currently exist within the labor market.

With this being said, Fayyaz stated that the administration will continue to bring the required reform to the system in order to address these challenges, which will not happen overnight as the issues within the system have been “inherited over years of neglect and misuse”.

Shedding light on the direction and stance of the incumbent administration, the minister stated that it is very clear, as the issue has been approached as a humanitarian issue and the government has been tackling them as a national priority, over the past two years since coming into power.

The minister promised that the government will pursue watchful and strict policies against offenders to curb exploitation and human trafficking, adding that the government remains committed to identify the root causes and implement “consolidated efforts” to address the “many issues”.

The Government’s Strategic Action Plan plays a key role in identifying key policies and strategies that will be developed to ensure the welfare of the migrant workforce, said Fayyaz, who noted that the government also established a National Task Force on Issues Related to Migrant Workers during last year.

A nationwide regularization program was also initiated by the government to pave opportunities for undocumented workers to register within the system and transition to legal work.

Further, a repatriation program was also announced in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, where over 7,541 undocumented expatriates have been repatriated via a safe passage, thus far.

Highlighting that Maldives recognizes the need to boost efforts to successfully prosecute traffickers and extend adequate protection to victims, Fayyaz revealed that the government has engaged in efforts to enhance available support and welfare services for victims.

The Maldives delegation that joined the UPR session comprised of the economic minister, Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath, Minister of Home Affairs Sheikh Imran Abdulla and Minister of Gender, Family and Social Services Aishath Mohamed Didi alongside the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Maldives to the United Nations Office in Geneva Dr. Asim Ahmed and senior officials of the President’s Office, Attorney General’s Office (AGO) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.