More than 80 Israelis visited the Maldives after President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s government decided to bar entry to Israeli passport holders, official statistics have revealed.

The cabinet decided on June 2, 2024 to make the necessary legal changes for banning the Israeli passport over Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Muslim brothers and sisters of Palestine.

More than 38,000 Palestinians have been martyred in Israel’s ongoing genocide since October 7, 2023.

The cabinet’s decision to ban the Israeli passport was announced at a press conference by the Attorney General and four ministers. “Government decides to ban Israeli passport,” read a statement about the decision on the President’s Office website. A ministerial committee was formed for the purpose, the President’s Office said.

But the government has been permitting the entry of visitors with Israeli passports without any enforcement of the decision for nearly two months.

Tourist arrivals for June published by the Tourism Ministry on Sunday show that the number of Israeli tourists who visited the Maldives last month was 82. The number of Israeli tourists who have visited so far in July is unclear.

The Israeli tourists continued to arrive despite the Maldives government’s decision drawing international media attention and prompting the Israeli government to advise its citizens against travelling to the Maldives.

The government decided to ban the Israeli passport after repeated calls from the public over Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people.

To that end, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) submitted a bill to the Parliament to amend the immigration law. The bill was accepted with the votes of pro-government MPs and sent to the 241 Committee. But work on the bill has since stalled.

After the government made the decision, Attorney General Ahmed Usham suggested that a “blanket” ban to bar any Israeli passport holder from entering the Maldives should be reconsidered.

The remarks drew widespread criticism of the government. The government decided to ban the Israeli passport without any intention of enforcement, several people said.