The official in charge of the Homeland Security Ministry’s department on issuing quotas has been relieved of duty, Minister Ali Ihusan revealed last week.
Serious issues have been flagged in the issuance of quotas for bringing foreign workers to the Maldives and the cases are under investigation, Minister Ihusan told Adhadhu on Thursday.
Quotas were issued for 523,755 foreign workers over the past 11 years.
One of the main issues that have been noted is foreign workers left out on the street after they are brought in through legal means, the minister said, adding that companies suspected of complicity in such cases are under investigation. The official in charge of issuing quotas was suspended for this investigation, he said.
“He was the person in charge of the department at the time. So as cases like I said occurred at the time in there, with some companies submitting fake documents and things, we isolated him until we could finish investigating these cases,” Ihusan said.
The suspended official is a deputy minister of the Homeland Ministry, Adhadhu has learned. But the identity of the official is unclear.
No wrongdoing has been noted so far but the official will remain suspended until the investigation is concluded, Ihusan added.
The suspension came before the government launched a nationwide effort on Thursday to identify the number of undocumented foreigners in the Maldives and allow them to join a regularization program.
Speaking on the issue at the Ahaa (Ask) public forum last week, Home Minister Ihusan said the process of entering the identified undocumented workers and their place of residence into the record maintenance system would be completed within a year.
