Maldives lifts ban on Bangladeshi workers; govt under fire

The government on Sunday lifted a ban on unskilled workers from Bangladesh, despite official figures showing that the number of Bangladeshi workers in Maldives already exceed the cap of 100,000 allowed for any one country. 

The home ministry announced that unskilled labourers will can now be brought to Maldives from Bangladesh from Sunday. A ban on quotas for unskilled workers from other countries will now kick in, it added.

However, the Employment Act states that a maximum of 100,000 migrant workers can be brought in from any one country to work in Maldives. 

According to data released by the economic ministry on November 17, 139,220 Bangladeshi workers have active work permits in Maldives.

As the media began reporting the information, the report has now been removed from the economic ministry's website. The ministry's post on X has also been deleted along with the link to the report.

The government has not yet commented on the matter.

Former economic minister Fayyaz Ismail has expressed concern over the home ministry's decision to lift the ban on Bangladeshi workers.

“It is very questionable that quota issuance and immigration are under the home ministry and a person who has a case filed with the police for quota fraud has decided to only import people illegally from a country where the legal quota has been reached,” he said.

Many members of the public are also criticising the government.

Fayyaz implemented the temporary ban on Bangladeshi workers in 2019, leading to a surge in unskilled workers from other countries, especially neighbouring India.