Mohamed Nazim, the Maldives National Party (MNP)’s presidential candidate, has said that if elected, he would weed out all undocumented immigrants in the Maldives within a matter of “days.”
Speaking during a campaign event at Gan Island, Laamu Atoll, the presidential hopeful outlined that his administration would address the issue of illegal aliens in a big way and that a foreigner would not be able to stay in the Maldives unless all legal requirements are fulfilled.
Undocumented foreigners will have two choices, Nazim said, either fulfil all legal requirements or return to their country.
“Within days of coming in [to office], I will identify all [illegal] immigrants on all islands,” he said.
Nazim said that his intent was not to malign any people but to bring about a solution to the rampant unemployment he has witnessed throughout many islands – an issue, he believes, that can only be addressed by solving the problem of illegal aliens.
Pointing to a recent visit to Feevah Island, Shaviyani Atoll, Nazim said that residents had complained that illegal aliens there were “working cheap[er]” in farming and masonry work and that residents had “nothing to do.”
