The Homeland Security Ministry today allowed the hiring of unskilled laborers from Bangladesh to work in the Maldives.
The former government banned the hiring of laborers from Bangladesh for nearly four years due to the growing problem of undocumented workers.
Statistics show that the largest number of laborers in Maldives come from Bangladesh. The largest number of undocumented workers are also from Bangladesh.
According to Article 65 (a) of the Employment Act, the number of workers from a single country must not exceed 100,000.
The latest figures released by the Economic Ministry show that 139,220 Bangladeshis work in Maldives,
As a result, the decision of the Ministry of Homeland Security clashes with the law.
Former Economic Minister and Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairman Fayyaz Ismail criticized the government's decision to allow the hiring of Bangladeshi workers.
The ministry said in an announcement today that the government has decided to allow the hiring of unskilled laborers from Bangladesh.
The ministry also decided to suspend the hiring of unskilled workers from other countries for the time being.
But the authorities will continue to process the documents uploaded to the Expat online system till today, the announcement read.
The hiring of unskilled workers from Bangladesh was banned in 2019 by the government of former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
The government, at the time, formed a taskforce to solve the issue of undocumented workers and began a regularization program.
According to immigration statistics, there are 63,000 undocumented workers in the Maldives. However, unofficial estimates put the figure at close to 100,000.
The regularization program, which was launched under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, is the largest effort ever made to solve the issue.
