Foreigners residing illegally to be sent back

Home Ministry has said today that steps will be taken next week against foreigners who reside illegally all over Maldives.

State Minister for Home Ministry Mohamed Fayaz told the press today that teams have been put together to identify illegal immigrants, and operation to register all immigrants will begin next week.

“We are starting a new operation, we will continue with this commitment. The failure or success of this operation depends on financial and diplomatic issues. For example, if we are to send back Bangladeshi citizens who are here illegally, it has to be done in collaboration with the Bangladeshi Embassy,” Fayaz said.

He said that the difficulty faced in sending illegal immigrants is a financial issue, as several immigrants have not paid the deposit money. The ministry will work towards obtaining the money necessary to send them back to their home country.

He also said that the Cabinet has made the decision to transfer all responsibilities regarding solving the problem of immigrants from Labor Ministry to the Immigration Department.

He further said that a steering committee has been set up at ministerial level to solve the issues related to immigrants, and that these issues will be solved according to the leadership of this committee.