Male: Several Indians are among the 32 expatriates detained by the Maldives government for living and working illegally in the archipelagic nation, a media report said Sunday.
Maldives Immigration conducted a special raid operation in Thilafushi on Saturday targeting undocumented expatriates, the department said in a social media post.
“Through this operation, 836 expatriates were questioned, from which 32 were identified as being undocumented. These individuals were then detained,” newsportal Edition.mv said, quoting the Immigration department.
The 32 individuals who were detained are from India, Bangladesh and Nepal, it said without giving a country-wise break-up.
Located just south of Malé, Thilafushi is a purpose-built artificial island serving as a major municipal landfill and industrial zone for the Maldives, according to the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), a 100 per cent state-owned enterprise.
The operation was carried out in the industrial area, commercial area and transport hubs of Thilafushi, the report said, adding, the reasons for which the individuals were detained included expired visas, working in places other than for which they hold permits and conducting private businesses outside the boundaries of the visa granted.
Other reasons included failure to pay work permit fees and suspicion of conducting illegal businesses in Thilafushi.
Under similar operations, Immigration detained 254 expatriates in May as well, the Edition.mv said.
The news of detaining expats comes on a day when the population projections published by the Maldives Bureau of Statistics said foreign residents account for one-third of Maldives population in 2026.
The country’s resident population is projected at 5,90,079 in 2026, comprising 3,94,054 Maldivians and 1,96,024 foreign residents, news portal Corporate Maldives said.
The statistics, however, did not give country-wise details of the expats working in the Maldives.
