President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih says that more than 16,000 expatriates have been voluntarily repatriated to their country of origin.
In his annual Presidential Address to the parliament, President Solih said that one important issue the government aimed to tackle was that of undocumented and irregular immigration into the country, which contributes to human trafficking.
He noted Often this is the result of deliberate actions taken by unscrupulous individuals and that the authorities have taken steps to address and prevent the further occurrence of this issue.
President Solih said that his administration initiated a regularization program under which 41,000 previously undocumented expatriates have voluntarily registered.
He also noted that 8,775 undocumented expatriates and 8,000 documented expatriates have been voluntarily repatriated to their country of origin. President Solih said that this repatriation program is still ongoing.
In his address, President Solih said that the implementation phase of the National Anti-Human Trafficking Action Plan is currently underway in efforts to strengthen the country's anti-human trafficking policies.
He said that this year, the government will initiate the establishment of an office dedicated to anti-trafficking in persons.
