The Criminal Court has sentenced the local family who was brought back to the Maldives after they were stranded in war-torn Syria to administrative detention.
The family had traveled to Syria nine years ago and was brought back last Friday. The family consists of a 33-year-old woman and 4 children under the age of 18. Two of the children were born in Syria.
In the hearing held yesterday, the court said that the family was sentenced to administrative detention as per special provisions afforded to locals who return from war zones under the Terrorism Prevention Act.
Administrative detention is the arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial, usually for security reasons. Many countries use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism or rebellion, to control illegal immigration, or to otherwise protect the ruling regime.
In yesterday's hearing, the woman had said that the two children born in Syria were legitimate and that she had been living with the children in a war zone.
This comes after the Home Ministry had issued a statement stating that the administration of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had received complaints that families of Maldivian men who had traveled to war several years back had been stranded in the countries with no means to return home.
The Ministry further said that it had been working to find solutions through different avenues and that the return of the family of five was the first successful operation.
