MP says undocumented expats issue could trump terrorism in terms of danger

The Parliamentary Group leader of the majority MDP and MP for Central Henveiru Ali Azim has stated that the issue of undocumented expatriates could pose a danger to the Maldivian society worse than terrorism. 

The MP was speaking on the amendment submitted to the law to designate residences for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Maldives and the Speaker of the Parliament, much like the official residence of the President. 

The amendment was submitted after the May 6 terror attack on Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed. MP Azim said that there was a bigger issue in play in the Maldives when debates were being centered around the dangers of terrorism. 

"The issue of expatriates is not small. There are a lot of foreigners in the Maldives assisting acts of terror in different ways," said MP Azim who had opposed the bill to designate official residences. 

He warned that if action was not taken against these dangers, a bigger danger could be inflicted on the nation. He even said that the days when foreigners came out and faced off against security forces in the Maldives such as the MNDF and the Police were not far off and described the island of Thilafushi, neighboring the capital Male' City as a fortress of foreigners. 

"Foreigners rule there, A Maldivian does not rule there. They rule over the place with their gangs and commit negative acts of all sorts there. I cannot see, our officials in charge of implementing things, visiting these places, and trying to resolve these issues," said MP Azim. 

He said that there were a lot of conspiracies being planned in Thilafushi and a number of undocumented expatriates were living in the island. 

"We need to think about this specifically and deeply. The Maldives has a delicate economy. When something like that happens, starvation is not far for us," said MP Azim. 

He said that stopping dangers all over the nation was also of importance when discussing granting protection for specific individuals. 

"When these issues have been stopped the expenditure of the sate will also decrease. Everyone does not have to be placed in prisons. It is important to take action first before providing security for everyone," said MP Azim.