President Vows Deportation of Undocumented Foreign Workers after Biometric Deadline

President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has announced that undocumented foreign workers who fail to register their biometric data by the government’s deadline will be deported, as his administration intensifies its campaign to address what he described as the country’s long-standing “foreign worker problem”.

Speaking at the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) rally held at Artificial Beach in Malé last night, where a large crowd from across the country gathered to celebrate two years of his government, Muizzu said the issue had been allowed to grow unchecked under previous administrations. He told supporters that the problem had reached a point where it became a challenge for “all previous governments”, but claimed “nothing was done” and that the situation “kept growing and growing”.

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Muizzu said that when his administration took office, the state did not know how many undocumented foreign workers were in the Maldives and had no comprehensive statistics or information on their whereabouts. He said this began to change with the launch of the Huravee Operation, a registration and biometric campaign targeting foreign workers across the country.

“In the operation we started, as of today, we have taken the fingerprints of 191,723 foreign workers,” he said. “We now know who the foreign workers in the Maldives are, where they are staying, all these details.”

The president stressed that the deadline for foreign workers to either register or provide their biometrics would expire “tomorrow” (Saturday). He warned that those who fail to comply with the requirements of the campaign will face removal once a new phase of enforcement begins the following day. 

“Foreign workers who are not registered or who do not provide biometrics by tomorrow will be immediately deported in the operation that begins the day after,” he said, adding that after the deadline “no foreign worker can stay in the Maldives without providing biometrics or digital identification”.

Muizzu also highlighted the 9,141 foreign workers who were staying illegally already deported. “Foreign workers who were staying illegally, who had committed various offences, who could not or did not want to be regularized,” he said. He claimed this was 143 per cent more than during the previous government’s term, presenting it as evidence of his administration’s determination to tackle the issue.

Throughout the speech, Muizzu repeatedly appealed for public cooperation, calling on citizens to help identify foreign workers who may not have completed biometric registration. “What we need most from you, beloved citizens, is what I just mentioned—helping to find foreign workers who haven’t provided biometrics,” he said. “If you see such a person on the street or on an island, please inform the police, immigration, or the relevant authorities. Then they will find that person and deport them.” 

He urged people not to “hesitate in any way” in reporting information about foreign workers he said were “staying illegally”.

The president linked the government’s approach to foreign workers to broader goals of stability, development and security, describing resolving the issue as central to the country’s progress. He argued that addressing the situation was “one of the most important issues” in ensuring stability in the Maldives and claimed that the measures taken so far showed how his administration was dealing with major national problems.

The President concluded his address by expressing confidence that, with what he described as the full cooperation of state institutions and citizens, the government would be able to take its efforts on foreign workers “even more” forward in the coming days.