Maldives lifts ban on recruitment of unskilled laborers from Bangladesh

Undocumented expatriate workers at the Galolhu National Stadium for appointments for Economic Ministry's regularization program on October 19, 2019. (File Photo/Sun/Ahmed Awshan Ilyas)

Maldives has lifted the ban on recruitment of unskilled laborers from Bangladesh – a ban imposed in 2019 in a bid to tackle the longstanding problem of undocumented migrant workers.

In a statement published on the Government Gazette on Sunday, the Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology announced that the government has decided to allow the recruitment of unskilled laborers from Bangladesh.

The decision is effective immediately.

But the recruitment of unskilled laborers from other countries is suspended at this time, reads the announcement.

The Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology said that documents uploaded to Xpat Online – an expatriate management system managed by Ministry of Economic Development – by the end of Sunday will be processed.

Maldives imposed a ban on the recruitment of unskilled laborers from Bangladesh in September 2019.

Then-Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail said that the government had decided to cap the number of unskilled workers from each source country at 150,000. He said that the limit had been reached for Bangladeshi laborers if undocumented workers were counted.

MDP's chairperson Fayyaz Ismail speaks at a press conference on May 18, 2023. (Sun Photo/Mohamed Shaathiu)

FAYYAZ SLAMS DECISION TO LIFT BAN

Fayyaz, who serves as the chairperson of the main opposition MDP, took to X to slam the decision to lift the ban, describing it as “a threat to national security, economy, and the social fabric” of the country.

He said the decision to allow only unskilled Bangladeshi workers is a clear violation of the Employment Act.

“Before 2019, the Bangladesh human trafficking business was a dirty trade that some engaged in, that generated billions of Rufiyaa annually. Reopening this illegally after a five-year halt is a threat to Maldives’ national security, economy, and social fabric,” he said.

The ban on unskilled labor from Bangladesh was originally for one year, but was later extended.

The ban had been part of the previous administration’s initiative to tackle the issue of undocumented migrant workers, which included a regularization program.