Expats arrested from outside Male’ ATM for selling US dollars

Maldives Immigration Service detained two expatriates who were involved in foreign exchange activities on Wednesday night, in a special raid outside the US Dollar ATM in Male’ City.

The raid was part of a joint operation conducted by Immigration in collaboration with the police in a crackdown on illegal expatriates in the Maldives.

In a post on X on Thursday morning, Immigration said that the two expatriates were working in Maldives illegally, and were believed to be “extensively involved in foreign exchange activities.”

The two individuals detained on Wednesday were identified as; Babu Miah and Mohammad Mokchandali. They are both Bangladeshi nationals.

According to Immigration, they were both detained for further investigation.

Immigration said that they also detained and deported six more illegal expatriates who were also engaged in foreign exchange activities on March 9.

They were identified as: Mohammed Abul Kasem, Imon Khan, Mohammad Jumon Miah, MD Sana Ullah, Monir Hoshen, and Nasir.

All six are also Bangladeshi nationals.

A special raid operation was held near the USD ATM in Male' earlier last night, and two illegal expatriates who were extensively involved in foreign exchange activities were detained for further investigation. We appreciate the assistance from @PoliceMv during the operation.… pic.twitter.com/a5sXS4SJge

— Maldives Immigration (@ImmigrationMV) July 4, 2024

Illegal migration remains a longstanding issue in the Maldives.

The Home Ministry has established a national taskforce to address the issue of illegal migration.

Immigration said earlier this week that the ‘National Task Force on Combating Illegal Expatriate Operations,’ has now deported more than 1,800 expatriates.

The Home Ministry has also launched a special operation under the name ‘Kurangi’, in a crackdown on illegal migration.

The biometrics of over 1,500 migrants have been collected under the operation.

At a session of the ‘Ahaa’ public forum back in April, Home Minister Ali Ihusan said the issue of illegal migration will be resolved in three years.

He said that the collection of biometric data of migrants was just phase one of the operation, and will wrap up within one year.

He said that once the data on all migrants are collected and entered into a system, the government will then regularize all undocumented migrants.

Ihusan warned that those who fail to make use of the opportunity will be deported.

However, he stressed that the goal is not to arrest and deport migrants, but to give them a chance to get regularized.