Exclusive: UNODC Head Alan Cole describes expanding presence in the Maldives

Head of the Global Maritime Crime Programme at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Alan Cole has stated that the organization will be expanding their presence in the Maldives with support from the incumbent administration.

Head of the Global Maritime Crime Programme at UNODC Alan Cole made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Raajje MV, highlighting efforts conducted with the Maldivian government to expand their presence in the Maldives. Cole stated that he had met with the Minister of Home Affairs Imran Abdulla and the State Minister of Home Affairs, for discussions on how the UNODC's partnership with the Maldives could be reinforced in critical areas of maritime security and prison reform.

Alan Cole stated that the UNODC had received resounding support from the Maldivian government at the meeting, and revealed that a team of international experts were now active in the Maldives. Cole added that they were working in the fields of maritime security and prison reform, with a special emphasis on the latter.

Head of the Global Maritime Crime Programme at UNODC Alan Cole went on to state that the Ministry of Home Affairs had placed a high priority on prison reform in the Maldives, in order to bring prisons and detention complexes across the island nation in line with international standards and the Nelson Mandela Rules, which give guidance on all aspects of prison management, from admission and classification to the prohibition of torture and limits on solitary confinement.

Cole expressed that the UNODC and the Ministry of Home Affairs were working to improve prison security and reduce the elements and operations of criminality within prison complexes in the Maldives, adding that a level of criminality was expected in buildings designed to house and reform criminals. He added that these efforts were being undertaken with funding from the European Union, and involved providing prisons with expertise to disrupt organized crime, improve living conditions for those detained, and provide more vocational training opportunities and modern facilities, which would increase the chances of those being detained in Maldivian prisons to achieve reform through the complex.

In the exclusive with Raajje TV, Head of the Global Maritime Crime Programme at UNODC Alan Cole expressed hopes that their efforts with the Ministry of Home Affairs would be able to reform Maldivian prisons to be the best in the region, in order to preserve the rights of those detained and allow them a significant and achievable chance at reform while serving their sentences.