Maldives Immigration has revealed over 13,500 expatriate workers have been repatriated from the Maldives amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The statistics shared by Maldives Immigration with PSM News showed 13,532 expatriate workers have been repatriated as part of the operation to provide safe passage back to their countries at a time international borders are closed and travel is restricted due to the pandemic. The repatriated expatriates include 5,014 Bangladeshi nationals, 5,026 Indian nationals, 1,393 Sri Lankan nationals, 809 Indonesian nationals, 336 Filipino nationals, 350 Thai nationals and 604 Nepali nationals.
Immigration stated expatriate workers, including undocumented workers, who wished to return back to their countries due to the pandemic were repatriated as part of the operation. The repatriation of undocumented workers is a programme initiated before the pandemic by relevant state authorities including the Maldives Immigration, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Maldives Police Service (MPS).
Furthermore, the government has also repatriated tourists stranded in the Maldives as part of the operation. As part of the operation, 15,775 tourists from various Asian countries were sent back by the end of June. In addition, 41 tourists who travelled to Maldives from Africa and 2,091 tourists from Europe were also sent back. In total, 17,951 tourists were repatriated back to their countries amid the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the government has launched a separate programme to bring back locals stranded in other countries.