Concern raised over plans to deport expatriates for protesting in Thinadhoo

Non-profit organizations have raised concern over Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology’s decision to detain and deport the expatriates who were involved in staging a protest in GDh. Thinadhoo.

A group of expatriates staged a protest in Thinadhoo last Thursday affirming support for the recent protest in Bangladesh over the reinstatement of public sector job quotas.

The Ministry underscored expatriate workers in the Maldives are barred from political activities and involvement in such an act, amounted to a visa violation, in their decision to detain and deport the expatriates involved on Thursday.

In a joint statement, Transparency Maldives, Public Interest Law Center and Association for Democracy in the Maldives said everyone has the right to peaceful assembly and association under Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is enshrined in the second chapter of the Maldivian constitution under Article 32 which grants everyone the right to freedom of peaceful assembly without prior permission of the government.

The organizations stressed that imposing a condition on visas that deprives fundamental rights guaranteed under the Maldivian constitution is illegal.

“It is a grave violation of fundamental rights given to workers and it is concerning that such restrictions are being used to justify arbitrary arrests, termination and deportation of migrants in Maldives,” the statement read.

Citing these reasons, the organization called upon the government to:

• Uphold Constitutional and International Human Rights Conventions and revoke the decision to deport migrants for exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right

• Adopt the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. 
• Refrain from arbitrary measures and discrimination when it comes to protecting the rights and protections guaranteed to all migrants under Maldivian laws

The organizations also noted that migrants make 32 percent of the working population in the Maldives and in this trajectory, play a crucial role in the Maldivian society and make significant contributions across sectors.