Maldives Repatriates 200 More Bangladeshi Nationals

Maldives has repatriated 200 more Bangladeshi nationals via its national airline, reports the Maldives media.

Maldivian, the Maldives national airline, carried out the repatriation on Monday afternoon, with a flight bound for Dhaka from Velana International Airport, according to the Maldivian news channel Raajje TV.

Repatriation is one of the government's plans to relocate voluntary expatriate employees from the Maldives owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Efforts are being made by the Ministry of Economic Growth to address the problem of expatriate employees in the country.

These efforts are being made in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the High Commission of Bangladesh in the Maldives, with the assistance of the Government of Bangladesh, following the announcement by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in May, following an increase in the number of Bangladeshi nationals tested positive for the global Covid-19 pandemic.

The announcement was to repatriate undocumented Bangladeshi nationals from the Maldives.

Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail announced earlier that the government plans to send back at least 20,000 illegal workers before the end of the current year. Fayyaz stated that expatriate workers will not be sent home without their consent.

On Saturday, the government announced that the number of unpaid expatriate workers repatriated from the Maldives was 4,205 by then.

Close to 14,000 expatriate workers who volunteered to go back home under the government-initiated repatriation programme, have been evacuated thus far.

The Maldives is to begin imposing fines on expatriate workers residing in the nation without proper documentation such as the employer visa from next week onwards, a procedure for which will be publicised soon.

Earlier, the government revealed that close to 100,000 undocumented workers are residing illegally in the Maldives without valid documentations and/or passports.

The majority of Covid-19 cases reported in the Maldives were among Bangladeshis who were found to be susceptible to disease due to the lifestyles they are required to conform to as well as the small living spaces they are required to reside in large groups.