The number of deportations during the incumbent Administration has reached 7,600 thus far, Maldives Immigration has said, amid intensified efforts to crackdown on undocumented migrants in the island nation.
The Administration aims to solve the long-standing issue of undocumented migrants and has unified enforcement agencies to overcome administrative red tape.
Immigration has since intensified efforts to address the issue of undocumented migrants and conducted a series of targeted raid operations to identify undocumented individuals.
On Thursday, Immigration conducted a targeted operation on several hotspots for expatriate businesses in capital Male’, taking 31 undocumented migrants into custody.
Immigration told PSM News that as of June this year, 2,022 people have been deported taking the total deportations tally since November 2023 to 7,635 people.
In July last year, a designated portal, the ‘Immigration Watch’ was introduced, enabling citizens to report suspected undocumented migrants in the Maldives and other immigration-related violations.
In addition to deporting undocumented migrants, the government is also offering pathways for undocumented individuals to regularise their status. Efforts are also underway to collect biometric data on foreign nationals in the Maldives, as part of a broader strategy to tackle illegal migration systemically.