MP for Galolhu South Constituency Meekail Ahmed Naseem says the Parliament's Security Services Committee revised his bill on banning Israelis from entering the Maldives against the spirit in which the bill was first submitted and that it is a mockery of Palestine.
MP Meekail proposed an amendment to the Immigration Act last May as a way to protest against the Israeli state's continuous genocide in the Occupied Palestinian territories.
The amendment was accepted by the Parliament in June and forwarded to the Security Services Committee, where its work has been stagnant, much to the ire of the public.
However, yesterday, the Committee passed the bill after a major revision was made to the document. The new revision barred entry of individuals using Israeli passports to enter the Maldives.
In the parliament session today in which the Committee report was deliberated on, MP Meekail said that it was seen that after the committee held the bill for many days, the government could not withstand the pressure and tried to pass the bill. He said that the committee amended the bill against the proposed objective.
He added that there was no problem revising the bill but that the revision was wrong.
The bill should not allow the Israeli military and Israeli officials to enter the Maldives on dual passports, he said, adding that this is a mockery of the Palestinian people and the Maldivian people.
