The Maldives government is set to lift the cap on the recruitment of unskilled labourers from Bangladesh, according to the country’s Home Minister Ali Ihusan.
“Based on the current demand for labour in the Maldives and as well as the forecasted future demand, the 100,000-limit on Bangladeshi labourers is something we must drop,” said the minister.
The current law caps the number of unskilled workers from any single country at 100,000, reports Maldivian Sun Online.
In a meeting with the Parliament’s National Security Services Committee on Tuesday, Ihusan disclosed that there are currently around 96,000 Bangladeshi labourers in the Maldives.
He warned that this limit will soon be reached if the existing ban is lifted.
He, however, stressed that this limit cannot be removed without implementing specific safeguards. The primary safeguard involves creating a system to record the biometric data of all expatriates.
Ihusan also suggested that expatriates should be required to obtain separate permits for each island they work on, in addition to the official work permit, as a measure to prevent illegal migration.
“They must be mobilised only after they are allocated to the island they are coming to, through the system, and after they are endorsed by the council. We are working on bringing this development to the system,” he said.
In April, the Home Ministry imposed a ban on the recruitment of unskilled labourers from Bangladesh to investigate multiple instances of fake documents being used to bring in labourers.
“We will recommend to the Parliament to lift the limit. But we will not do it until we fully roll out safeguards,” Ihusan said.
“I do not believe we can cater to the current demand in the Maldives by keeping the 100,000 limit,” he added.
The Maldives initially imposed the ban on recruiting unskilled labourers from Bangladesh in September 2019, during the previous administration, after discovering that the number of Bangladeshi workers far exceeded the limit.
The current administration lifted the ban in December last year before recently reinstating it.
Illegal migration remains a serious issue in the Maldives.
The Home Ministry has launched a special operation named ‘Kurangi’ to crack down on illegal migration, collecting the biometrics of over 1,500 migrants so far.
