Shelters for foreigners need to be completed by the end of February: Foreign Ministry

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that the problem of foreigners entering illegally is at a dangerous level in the Maldives, and that the first step to take in order to fight this problem is to complete a suitable shelter for foreigners before the end of this month.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dhunya Maumoon said at a press conference at Foreign Ministry today that unless the Maldives strengthens its fight against human trafficking, it could fall to ‘tier 3’ on the US State Department’s human trafficking watch list.

She said that if Maldives falls to tier 3, the country would face serious problems including a damaged reputation and difficulties in obtaining foreign aid.

“The Maldives is very close to falling to tier 3 unless we strengthen our fight against human trafficking. That would be very bad for the country. It would damage our reputation and have several other implications. We would face difficulties in obtaining aid as well as communicating with other organisations. So we have to complete a good quality shelter in February. If we do that, we may be safe from falling to tier 3,” Dhunya said.

Immigration Controller Dr Mohamed Ali said that the shelter is being built at a location in Orchid Magu. He said that the major work is now complete and that it should be possible to open the shelter perhaps on Sunday next week.

Once opened, the shelter would handle deportation and repatriation of foreigners who enter the Maldives illegally. It would also act as a home for foreigners who are arrested during raids.

The Maldives has been included for a third year in the State Department’s human trafficking watch list in the ‘trafficking in persons 2012’ report.

The countries included in this list are the ones in which human trafficking exists to a great degree, and fail to take adequate measures to address the problem.