Government Sets Six-Month Timeline to Accelerate Deportations

The government has intensified efforts to address undocumented foreign workers, with President Dr Mohamed Muizzu announcing a six-month timeline to accelerate deportation operations.

In a statement shared on social media, the President said the government is working to identify, track and remove undocumented immigrants from the Maldives as part of a broader immigration enforcement strategy.

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The announcement comes as Operation Kurangi, the government’s nationwide biometric registration programme for foreign workers, nears completion. According to the President, 98 percent of foreign workers holding active work permits in the Maldives now have complete biometric records registered in the national database, including fingerprints and identification photographs.

The figure marks a significant increase compared to the situation on 17 November 2023, when only 13 percent of workers with active permits had submitted biometric information.

Operation Kurangi is being carried out in collaboration with island councils across the Maldives, with biometric collection centres established nationwide to gather and verify information on foreigners residing in the country.

The Ministry of Homeland Security, Labour and Technology has stated that the biometric registration programme will form the basis of a centralised register of foreigners living in the Maldives.

The government aims to establish a long-term solution to illegal immigration by April 2027. Authorities have already deported more than 6,700 individuals identified as residing in the country illegally.