Ihusaan says biometrics cannot be completed as 800 foreigners remain untraceable

Homeland Security Minister Ali Ihusaan says the biometric operation ‘Kurangi’ has stalled at around 800 unverified foreigners, and authorities are now tracing them through foreign governments and international databases.

Speaking at a press conference at the President’s Office on Thursday, Ihusaan said the government is attempting to locate the remaining foreigners whose fingerprints were never recorded under Operation Kurangi. “However, we cannot say with certainty that all 800 are currently in Maldives. Some of the trends we see are that some of them have died,” Ihusaan said.

He noted that the search has become difficult because even employers do not know who these individuals are. “Therefore, we are sorting out the work with the countries to which the passports belong,” he said, adding that verification is now being done through foreign governments and international databases.

Referring to remarks he made at the Ahaa Forum in late September, Ihusaan said the initial target was to complete Kurangi by May next year. However, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has instructed him to finish the operation by November 17 this year. “Therefore, the aim is to complete the operation by that date,” he said.

The second phase of Operation Kurangi focuses on identifying and arresting irregular immigrants. As part of the effort, undocumented foreigners are being traced and deported as the government works to resolve long-standing issues related to migrant management.