Maldives Police Service (MPS) has expressed concern the unresolved issues of expatriate workers could threaten national security of the Maldives.
Speaking at the Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Foreign Relations, Chief Superintendent of Police Mohamed Basheer noted the violent protests of expatriate workers could spiral out of control if the issue is not resolved soon, threatening national security. Basheer said the issue of unpaid wages has not led to violent protests before although the issue has existed for a number of years. He expressed belief the violence is incited by certain people with political motives.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Home Affairs Ali Nazeer said the administration, especially by the Ministry of Economic Development, is undertaking several efforts to resolve the issue of expatriates. The state minister noted the issue needs an urgent solution, through either regularisation or repatriation of undocumented workers. He said the administration will not allow national security to be under threat due to the issue of expatriate workers, despite the complexity of the problem. He added the administration is ready to take any action required to resolve the matter, although it needs to be decided how much the administration can interfere with the finances of private businesses to resolve the issue of unpaid wages.
Speaking at the committee, Controller General of Immigration Mohamed Ahmed Hussain said the issue of undocumented expatriates reached the current level due to the inability to establish an efficient monitoring system. The controller general noted the Immigration faces several challenges in monitoring undocumented workers, as the detention centre currently has a capacity of about 40 people, which would be filled by expatriates brought in for detention by MPS on a single day. Therefore, he said the Immigration currently does not have the capacity to conduct further monitoring operations.
Earlier, Immigration revealed there are approximately 63,000 undocumented expatriates in the Maldives. The administration has been undertaking a programme which aims to repatriate over 20,000 undocumented workers by the end of the year.