No entry for expats without controls, minister says

Home Minister Ali Ihsan said on Thursday that expatriates will not be allowed to enter Maldives without any control despite the recent amendment to the Employment Act removing the maximum number of foreigners allowed from one country.

According to the Employment Act, the maximum limit from one country is 100,000. The bill, which was introduced by the government and passed in the parliament on Monday, decided that a regulation would set the amount under the law instead of setting the limit in the law.

Ali Ihsan spoke about the amendment at a press conference held at Iskandhar barracks on Thursday.

“I repeat, the media [and] the people are assured that we will not open the border without control, even if parliament gives us the authority. We will do it responsibly," Ihsan said.

Speaking further on the topic, Ihsan said the problem is not a certain number of foreigners in the country but the illegal presence of foreigners in the country. And the figure that requires eradication is the illegal immigrant figures.

"Given the labour demand in Maldives, and especially now that big projects are planned, the current labour supply in Maldives cannot do that. So we have to increase the labour supply anyway," he said.

"Limiting labour to a certain number is not done in many countries in the world [and especially in any country like Maldives] where there is a labour supply issue," he said.

When the MDP government stopped bringing in Bangladeshi workers and opened the border to another country, the real problem remained unresolved, he said. He said the limit of 100,000 people in 2020 was included in the law with the expectation that the problem would be solved.

This “problem exists, despite the 100,000 cap. That's from those that are already here now. We are prioritising attending to this,' he said.

'We will not give any further access to Bangladesh or any other country unless the issue of illegal immigrants is resolved fully, systematically”.