Maldives Cracks Down on Illegal Expatriate Activity With Deportations, Business Annulments

Around 186 expatriates have been deported after falling foul of the law.

The Controller General of Immigration, Mohamed Shamaan Waheed, said during a media briefing on Monday that, of the expatriates arrested for violating Maldivian law, those who had valid travel documentation and passports had been deported.

Waheed said a series of raids were currently being conducted by Immigration in collaboration with the police on a weekly basis, and he pointed out that these were not special operations targeting specific groups.

He said the 186 deported individuals belonged to 12 countries, primarily from Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka.

The deportees included individuals with visa violations as well as others connected to drug offenses.

The Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology, meanwhile, confirmed that it is working to disrupt and shut down illegal businesses in the country, with proceeds siphoned to foreign account holders.

Homeland Security is working with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade to take action against illegal businesses, Minister Ali Ihusaan said during a media briefing on Monday.

Authorities would be looking at registered and unregistered businesses, including those run by expatriates, and specifically those run by expatriates but registered in the name of other persons, Ihusaan said.

“They are registered under another name, but outside the registration, especially [in circumstances where] an expatriate is involved and money is deposited in their account,” the minister noted.

The ministry is will shutter such illegal businesses and deport violators running such businesses, Ihusaan said.

The Registrar of Companies, as of December 2021, can annul the a business registration if it is believed, on the basis of sufficient evidence, that it had been surreptitiously set up for the direct or indirect benefit of a foreign entity.