Maldivian repatriates more than 4,500 foreigners

Maldivian has announced that it had repatriated 4,581 expatriates on its repatriation operations, along with 199 individuals that departed today.

The operations are for foreign nationals wishing to return back home for various reasons as well as undocumented workers in the Maldives. The majority of the individuals repatriated are undocumented expatriates. Operations have seen flights depart from Velana International Aiport as well as Gan International Airport in the south. A total of 23 such flights have so far been conducted.

Charter flights have also been conducted by the government. A Bangladeshi air force plane also repatriated some individuals from the Maldives. The government is targeting to repatriate 20,000 individuals by the end of this year as part of these operations. The government estimates that there are close to 100,000 undocumented expatriates in the Maldives.