Eight expats detained in raid on Hulhumale’ takeaway coffeeshops

Eight expatriates were detained on Friday, in a raid on takeaway coffeeshops in Hulhumale’.

In a post on X on Saturday morning, Maldives Immigration Service said the weekend raid by the joint taskforce of Immigration and police targeted illegal expatriates suspected of running takeaway coffeeshop businesses.

“Eight expatriates were detained for further investigation,” said the agency, without specifying their nationalities.

The Home Ministry has established a national taskforce to address the issue of illegal migration – a longstanding issue facing the Maldives.

Immigration said earlier this week that the ‘National Task Force on Combating Illegal Expatriate Operations,’ has now deported more than 1,800 expatriates.

On Thursday, the Economic Ministry released a list of 25 business sectors expatriates are prohibited from working in. This includes the sale of food and beverages, taxi services, and retail trade, including running online businesses.

The Home Ministry has also launched a special operation under the name ‘Kurangi’, in a crackdown on illegal migration.

The biometrics of over 1,500 migrants have been collected under the operation.

At a session of the ‘Ahaa’ public forum back in April, Home Minister Ali Ihusan said the issue of illegal migration will be resolved in three years.

He said that the collection of biometric data of migrants was just phase one of the operation, and will wrap up within one year.

He said that once the data on all migrants are collected and entered into a system, the government will then regularize all undocumented migrants.

Ihusan warned that those who fail to make use of the opportunity will be deported.

However, he stressed that the goal is not to arrest and deport migrants, but to give them a chance to get regularized.