Maldives Correctional Service (MCS) has commenced a new rehabilitation programme with 55 prisoners.
MCS stated that the aim of the rehabilitation framework is to rehabilitate prisoners, teach them education and skills and enable them to earn an income when they return to society. The rehabilitation framework consists of four phases meant to build discipline in prisoners, conduct psychology programmes, and teach them education and vocational skills, as well as conduct prison community service. As such, the first phase focuses on life skills classes, religious classes, as well as football drills and physical training classes.
A total of 32 prisoners have completed the first round of the programme and have been released back to the community. MCS has stated that implementation of such programmes should be increased across the country and that the correctional service needs to implement proper rehabilitation techniques when conducting such programmes.
Additionally, MCS has stated that an average of 64 individuals were arrested every month last year. The correctional service also released 40 inmates each month. For the past five years, about 1,489 inmates have been held in prisons every year.