Ihsan vows to resolve expatriate issues in 3 years
According to the latest information shared by the Immigration Department, more than 2,000 foreigners have been deported.
By
Fathmath Ahmed Shareef
Home Minister Ali Ihsan has said that the problems of illegal immigrants in Maldives will be solved within the next three years.
Ihsan was speaking at a function to launch the 'Naares Portal', connecting the Department of National Registration (DNR) and councils.
At the ceremony, Ihsan said that the government has set a deadline of one year to identify all foreigners living illegally in Maldives.
"The next second and third years will be two years to integrate these people into the legal framework. With Allah's will and under the guidance of the President, we are working to bring a permanent solution to the problem of illegal foreigners in Maldives," Ihsan said.
Ihsan said the Naares portal launched on Friday will play an important role in the Home Ministry's efforts to solve the problem of foreigners. It was announced that machines that can collect 10-finger prints in one go would be handed over to the island councils.
Ihsan said the machines would be used in the Kurangi operations to solve the problems of foreigners. The machines will be used to take fingerprints of foreigners living in rural areas and store their information, he said.
According to Ihsan, then:
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Councils will have a register of foreigners living in the island automatically
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The register will make it easier to identify suspected illegal immigrants
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Then when a council member goes and takes a photo of the foreigner, he will know what the foreigner is doing in Maldives, who he is working for, and when he last paid his visa
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Or the person will be produced before the council and fingerprints will be taken, the same information will be available then as well
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The police will also be able to identify the foreigner by a photograph
“This is what we did in Phase 1 [of Kurangi operation]. By giving this power in Phase II, the first part of addressing the problem of illegal immigrants in the country has come to an end,” Ihsan said.
Immigration and police are conducting a special operation called 'Kurangi' targeting human trafficking and foreigners conducting illegal businesses in Maldives.
According to the latest information shared by the Immigration Department, more than 2,000 foreigners have been deported so far through the special operation.
