Chief of Defense Force Major General Abdullah Shamaal says the recent issues pertaining to migrant workers in the country can now be viewed as a threat to the national security.
Speaking at the Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Foreign Relations, Shamaal said the current situation in the Maldives resemblance that of a country under the threat of a colonial rule.
He said that the issue can now be regarded as a threat to the national security and why it became such a threat is worth revisiting.
The Chief of Defense Force said that the issue of undocumented migrant workers has plagued the nation for years and based on the data collected by the armed forces it shows that there are 179, 954 registered migrant workers while another 66,000 are undocumented workers.
He clarified that this issue had become a threat to national security because the country is now hosting thousands of undocumented foreigners upon whom no law in the country can be applied because of their illegal status.
He went on to point out that this issue has now become a threat to the country’s independence and the migrant population in the Maldives now surpasses that of its youth.
Shamaal added that security services along with relevant state institutions must work together to find a permanent solution to this serious issue.
