Operation Kurangi: Coverage of inhabited islands within 3 months

Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology on Tuesday evening said it hopes to complete coverage of all inhabited islands under the nationwide Operation Kurangi within three months.

The operation is a nationwide crackdown and a measure to identify illegal immigrants and subsequently offer them the means to reside in Maldives legitimately for employment.

Illegal immigration and expatriates operating or running businesses illegally are among some of the major concerns the local economy faces. The central government and law enforcement bodies launched its crackdown to cull the issue towards a permanent solution, with regular inspections and raids to identify offenders.

The second phase of Operation Kurangi officially commenced last Friday during a ceremony held for it. Under the second phase, data collection of expatriates will commence simultaneously across all inhabited islands.

On SSTV’s “Baaru Hathareh” program, State Minister of Homeland Security Abdula Majeed Ibrahim said councils have provided support for the second phase of operations.

Homeland Ministry has launched an online portal to collect data from the islands and subsequently supplied resources to councils to collect expat-related data. The collected data will be uploaded to this portal allowing real-time data updates.

“We hope to complete the task across all the islands within 100 days or three months,” Majeed commented, adding the ministry hoped to mobilize the operation at the earliest possibility.

Immigrants discovered living illegally, or operating business illegally will be offered the chance to become legitimate.

Majeed also said authorities will be able to acquire an accurate number of illegal immigrants once the operation concludes.

“This will allow us to make statistical observations, such as what nationality the majority segment of illegal immigrants belong to, which would provide us information on various aspects including the lack of enthusiasm from locals to specific business areas,” he added.

The first phase of the operation officially kicked off earlier on May 2^nd at Kaafu atoll Himmafushi and expanded to Maafushi later on June 13^th.

Earlier, Minister of Homeland Security Ali Ihusan said the illegal immigration issue will be sorted out within three years.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu announced a ‘name and shame’ list of local employers who neglect their foreign employees after flying them to the country for work. President Muizzu further said such offenders will face fines depending on the extent of the offense, with severe action for repeat offenses.

The Homeland Security Ministry also said current legal reform steps by the government will ensure future statutory provisions in relevant legislation will ensure local employers are legally liable to the foreign employees they bring.