The government has declared Maldivians have been prohibited to travel to all parts of Syria due to the ongoing civil war and the armed insurgency in the country.
The authority to impose a travel ban on Syria has been made under Prohibition of Terrorism Act, Article (A) of Chapter 18 which grants the president the right to declare terrorism related war zones and put travel restrictions after consultation with the National Security Committee.
Many Maldivians have travelled to join terrorist organisations in Syria and taken part in the fighting before being killed in the conflict.
Under the revised Terrorism Act, the president is obliged to declare names of terrorist organisation and zones of terrorist warfare. The revised Terrorism Act gives the president the authority to declare it as an offence to travel to certain conflict zones of the world without permission from the government.
Initially 17 organisations were listed as terrorist outfits or groups where terrorists are active. The recently revised list includes The Guardians of Religion Organisation (Hurras al Din), an armed insurgent group affiliated with Al-Qaeda and Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, previously the al-Nusra Front, the al-Qaeda's branch in Syria.