Immigration’s ongoing crackdown; 4 detentions on Wednesday evening

Maldives Immigration detained four new expatriates on Wednesday evening as part of the authority’s ongoing crackdown.

The authority detained three expat women and one man, who were detained for the suspicion of operating businesses illegally. The expats were detained through raids on three different places.

Immigration’s ongoing crackdown aims to identity illegal immigrants and expats running businesses illegally, and said their operations will remain consistent.

Wednesday’s detention is the latest in the string of expats brought into Immigration custody, while on Tuesday the authority reported it had stopped four foreigners who arrived in the Maldives using counterfeited stamps on their passports.

The four men, aged between 25 and 41, were stopped and brought to Immigration custody from Velana International Airport. Immigration however, did not disclose their nationalities.

Immigration also made more detentions on Tuesday evening, through four raids. The authority had detained five expat men and one woman suspected of running businesses illegally.

Illegal migration remains a longstanding issue in the Maldives, while Immigration is currently collaborating with the Maldives Police Service are conducting the raids to control this prevalent issue.

Last week, the authority said over 1,800 expatriates running businesses illegally were detained and deported.

Controller General of Immigration Mohamed Shamman also confirmed these raids will continue without interruption, while Minister of Homeland Security and Technology Ali Ihusan earlier said the illegal migration issue will be solved in three years.