MP Azaan urges focus on reasons why youths join gangs, rather than punishment

The bigger priority in combating gang-related crimes should be towards identifying and eliminating the risk factors for involvement in gangs, and not on punishing as many people as possible, says Ahmed Azaan, a lawmaker from the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC).

The Parliament on Wednesday morning held the preliminary debate on a new bill submitted by the government to replace the existing Anti-Gang Crime Act.

Joining the debate, Azaan, who represents the Central Hithadhoo constituency, said that there’s no denying the need to stop gang-related violence and other organized crimes.

He said that getting the job done requires understanding the reasons why young people join gangs.

“We need to identify why young people join gangs at such a young age. We need to look into this, research this, and address these factors,” he said.

Azaan said that no school student would think “I want to be a gangster when I grow up”, but some join up gangs due difficult living situations and lack of opportunities.

He said that global research on the subject show money to be a big motivating factor for gang involvement, with youths found to be joining gangs because they lack opportunities to earn money through legal means.

He said that there’s room to believe a lack of job opportunities could be a major factor for gang involvement in the Maldives as well.

 “The truth is, a lot of young people involved in gangs want to leave that life. But with limited opportunities, there’s no easy path for that in the Maldives. This is what we need to address,” he said.

Azaan noted that his home city of Addu is recorded to be the city with the highest youth delinquency rate.

“Another thing the statistics show is that Addu is the city with the fewest economic opportunities. The city with the lowest employment opportunities. Research shows that there is a higher rate of gang crime and other crime in areas where such opportunities are limited. This is what we need to solve,” he said.

Azaan said that the Maldives is a small country of some 400,000 people, where people know each other.

He said that jailing a large percentage of the country’s youth will not fix the issue, and the focus should be on addressing the reasons why people join gangs.

The gang bill has been accepted into the Parliament for consideration, and is now under review by the  Judiciary Committee.