The government has repatriated 11 percent more undocumented immigrants in one year than the previous government managed in its entire five year term, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu revealed Thursday.
In his Presidential Address to inaugurate the Parliament for the year, President Dr Muizzu detailed the success of his Administration’s ongoing initiative to tackle the long-standing issue of undocumented expatriates in the island nation.
In that regard, the President said the previous government had repatriated 2,649 undocumented immigrants in its entire five year term, while his Administration in just its first year had repatriated over 6,000 undocumented expatriates.
The administration aims to solve the long-standing issue of undocumented migrants effectively and has been working closely with enforcement agencies to resolve the challenge. To support these efforts, a designated task force has been established, comprising members from enforcement agencies and various government ministries.
In his address, President Dr Muizzu said the prevailing undocumented immigrants issue has been the major obstacle to the country’s economic growth along with persistent foreign currency shortage.
He pointed out that the ‘Operation Kurangi’ was launched in May 2024 to provide a permanent solution to the issue of undocumented migrants in the Maldives. As part of the operation, fingerprints of migrant workers are recorded and checks are conducted to ensure that they are employed in the Maldives in accordance with the relevant rules and regulations, he added.
According to the President, biometrics of over 43,000 expatriates have been collected from 59 different islands thus far.
He said since 17 November 2023, the day he took the oath office, a total of 6,076 undocumented expatriates have been repatriated while another 24,540 have been regularised.
"Since November 17, 2023, 6,076 illegal immigrants have been deported. In the previous five years, 2,649 foreigners were deported from 2018 to 2023," he said.
In addition, 1,297 cases have been submitted to ‘Immigration Watch’, a public portal to report immigration violations, of which only 11 cases remain pending, the President said in his address.