Minister: 49 Maldivians went to war, UN report is not accepted

Minister of Defense and National Security Adam Shareef Umar has said that so far 49 Maldivians have travelled out of the country and joined the wars being fought in other countries and the figure given by the UN is not accepted.

Speaking at a press conference held by the National Counter Terrorism Center at the Coastguard Building today, Defence Minister Adam Shareef said that detecting the exact number of people fighting in foreign wars is difficult since they initially leave for other countries.

The Minister said that the total amount of Maldivians that have left for foreign wars in believed to be 49.

Minister Adam Shareef said that the families taken with the people going to Syria are not included.

He said that the intention of the wife going with her husband cannot be known so they have been deducted from the list along with the people who are confirmed or suspected dead.

While over 100 people have been reported by the media to have got to join the Syrian conflict, more than 50 of those people have been reported by the media to have been dead.

Contrary to the statement by the Defence Minister that 49 Maldivians are involved in foreign conflicts, the expert panel of the UN Security Council issued a report last year stating that the number of Maldivians leaving the country to take part in the Syrian conflict has been increasing rapidly saying that over 200 Maldivians have joined the Syrian conflict.

Defence Minister Adam Shareef said that the report is not something that is accepted by the Maldivian government.

The Minister said that not only religious extremists are joining the war from the Maldives but people that have committed major crimes and people without religious knowledge along with uneducated people.

And he said that the Maldives does not have an organization that sends people to foreign wars but there individuals suspected of doing it. The Minister said that there is a lack of evidence to take any actions against them.