Ihusaan says Kurangi operation will be completed by May next year

Homeland Security, Labour and Technology Minister Ali Ihusaan says the Government aims to complete Operation Kurangi by May next year, bringing the issue of irregular foreigners in Maldives to a standard accepted internationally.

Responding to a question at Sunday evening’s Ahaa Forum, Minister Ihusaan outlined the progress of Operation Kurangi.

He said that when the administration took office, records showed 295,000 foreigners in Maldives. Of these, only 22,000 had photo IDs and fingerprints. This meant the remaining 270,000 individuals could not be reliably identified if found without documentation.

The first phase of Operation Kurangi focused on identifying and verifying the number of foreigners in the country.

According to Ihusaan, information of 263,000 foreigners has now been verified. Of these, 95 percent are currently in Maldives, while 4 percent are abroad.

He noted that Maldives, the UAE and Singapore are among the countries that do not have one percent of their population comprised of foreigners, highlighting the scale of the issue locally.

The second phase of Operation Kurangi involves separating legal and illegal foreigners and taking action against those without valid status.

Ihusaan said the Government has set a clear timeline for completion.

“Our target is to complete the operation by May next year, and to bring the foreign-population issue in Maldives to a standard accepted by developed countries. We are aiming for 100 percent,” he said.

The Government continues efforts to address the issue of irregular immigrants, including tracing, identifying, and deporting those without legal status.