Category: Society & Culture

Advocacy group requests government “not delay” reform of child sex abuse laws

A child rights NGO has called on the Maldivian government to pass needed legislation concerning the treatment of sexual abuse victims, on the back of several high-profile court cases involving minors.

The Advocating the Rights of Children (ARC) NGO told Minivan News it was concerned about a lack of legislation in the country to protect victims of abuse. The NGO has also raised concerns over the potential impact on the state’s ability to prevent sexual offences following reductions to the state budget approved by parliament in December 2012.

The comments were made as the government reiterated a pledge over the last month to review and amend laws on sexual abuse that it has claimed, in certain cases, treat sexual abuse victims as perpetrators.

A spokesperson for the President’s Office confirmed Thursday (February 7) that authorities would be holding a one day seminar with the Islamic and gender ministries over the next two weeks on legal reform over concern at cases such as a 15 year-old girl being charged for fornication.

Acting Minister of Gender, Family and Human rights Dr Mariyam Shakeela was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

Civil society concern

Addressing these commitments by the state, a spokesperson for ARC said it hoped the government would not delay in fulfilling its “pledge to try and review sexual abuse laws with regard to how victims are treated.”

“In addition, we also believe that further steps need to be taken to such a review. [These include] reviewing and strengthening the current institutions and existing services,” the NGO spokesperson said.

ARC has also called for reforms of the juvenile justice system and reform of the current protection mechanisms provided to minors who are kept in state run institutions, such as homes and foster programs.

A spokesperson for the NGO claimed such reviews would be vital to help ensure the protection measures are “gender sensitive, non-intimidating and safeguard children’s access to justice.”

“We concerned that the government budget for 2013 saw a huge decrease in the area of social protection, which will strongly impact work in this field,” the spokesperson added.

Legislative support

ARC identified a lack of specific legislation protecting rights for children and adults – despite the Special Measures Act 2009.

The spokesperson for ARC said a lack of a comprehensive laws on child’s rights, coupled with a general reluctance by witnesses and professional to testify in court, highlighted wider challenges affecting reforms to abuse cases.

“ARC believes that in the event that a need for testifying in a court of law is required, every person should make this a moral obligation/duty to give their full cooperation to the authorities/courts,” the spokesperson said.

According to the NGO, another important challenge urgently needing to be addressed was a perceived disparity between how child abuse cases were being investigated in the capital Male’ compared to the country’s outer atolls – particularly in regards to the use of evidence and psychological support.

In cases where the police or judiciary were dealing with minors, ARC said more training was needed to ensure children were being dealt with sensitively during investigations or trials.

“It is imperative that if the child has to be taken for questioning to a court or by police officers, it has to be ensured that the surroundings are child friendly and that all officials dealing with the child have received adequate training and experience to sensitively deal with children,” said the NGO spokesperson.

ARC said it hoped the government would provide greater room for civil society to play a role in shaping future legislation, adding that NGOs themselves needed to show greater cooperation on key issues.

“While it is encouraging that more civil society groups are being active on social issues such as this, there needs to be a stronger collaborative mechanism between them, particularly in efforts to raise awareness,” the NGO spokesperson added.

ARC said it had been conducting ongoing awareness campaigns to make the general public aware that child abuse was not just related to physical or sexual attacks, but also verbal and emotional torment that could have long terms impacts on the development of a minor.

“While child abuse cases have been increasing, it is also important to recognise the many numbers of unreported cases. We have placed billboards in Male’, and will soon air a public service awareness [advert] to emphasise that suspected child abuse must be reported and not overlooked, and also familiarise people with the reporting numbers of both the child helpline and police helpline,” stated the ARC spokesperson.

“We have also highlighted that people can maintain anonymity when reporting, which is often one of the reasons people hesitate to report such cases, particularly in a small society like the Maldives.”

High profile cases

Just last week, the Maldives high Court rejected a request to take a local man into custody over the alleged abuse of an 11-year old relative, despite the male suspect having previously been held under house arrest at the same property in which his alleged victim lived.

The Prosecutor General (PG’s) Office confirmed that following a remand hearing on Tuesday (February 5), the suspect had been released from house arrest – with no restrictions placed upon his movement ahead of his unscheduled trial.

The remand hearing took place at a time when the PG’s Office is already facing government criticism for pursuing a case against a 15 year-old minor on charges of having “consensual sexual relations”.

The 15 year-old presently facing charges of having “consensual sexual relations” has also been identified as the victim of child sex abuse in an unrelated criminal case also being pursued by authorities.

The two cases are the latest in a line of high profile sexual abuse trials concerning minors, which have been met with international condemnation.

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No effort made to follow up promises on human trafficking: HRCM

The Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) has accused state and private sector employers in the country of lacking consistency in their efforts to address human trafficking, preventing “real” change in controlling illegal migration.

HRCM member Jeehan Mahmoud told Minivan News that despite attempts under the present government to try and introduce new legislation, the Maldives had made little progress towards improving the treatment and rights of foreign workers over the last four years.

The government has in recent months launched a special campaign intended to raising awareness of the rights of foreign workers, while also last month ratifying eight “fundamental” International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions intended to bring legislation on employee rights and trade unions in line with international standards.

However, independent institutions in the Maldives have maintained that the country is yet to ratify a core convention on protecting migrant worker rights, while no legislation is in place to punish those involved in smuggling workers though the country’s borders.

The Prosecutor General (PG’s) Office has confirmed that a lack of legislation has meant no cases have been prosecuted against human traffickers in the Maldives.

While accepting efforts were being undertaken by the present government to try and address human trafficking in the Maldives, trade unions, foreign diplomats and independent institutions have continued to raise concerns about the scale of the problem nationally.

The Maldives has appeared on the US State Department’s Tier Two Watch List for Human Trafficking for three years in a row. Should the Maldives drop to tier three – the worst category- then the country will face significant reductions in aid and potential travel restrictions on its citizens.

HRCM member Jeehan claimed that every time the US State Department had reviewed the Maldives’ efforts to curb human trafficking, successive governments had shown commitments to try and implement new control measures.

However, she claimed such efforts were often only temporary and not followed up in most cases.

“The effort is not consistent and that is why we are not seeing real change here. We have not seen change since our 2009 report and in the periodic reviews since then,” Jeehan said

Passport retention

HRCM member Jeehan identified the issue of employers retaining passports as a prevalent concern that had failed to be addressed since the commission carried out a study in 2009 assessing the employment situation in the Maldives for migrant workers.

“One of the findings was that passports were being kept not only by agencies or the companies themselves.  We also found the practice was used by the state in hiring teachers and nurses,” she said. “We had called for abandonment of this policy as migrant workers need access to their identity.”

Last year, the Department of Immigration and Emigration issued a notice (Dhivehi) expressing concern at the rising numbers of undocumented workers in the country, and set out a revised visa system to try and combat people trafficking.

The document included a clause stating that under no circumstances should a passport or travel documents be possessed by anyone other than the rightful owner, and threatened legal action against anyone found to have infringed these rights on the grounds of human trafficking.  An unofficial translation can be read here.

According to the HRCM, freedom of identity is a right enshrined in the Maldives constitution for any person residing in the country.

Jeehan added that the HRCM had since 2009 continued to recommend changing state-mandated practices for the processing visa documentation of foreign workers.  She said despite the efforts, the issue that had not been addressed by either the government of former President Mohamed Nasheed or the present administration of President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik.

“Our argument is why not find an alternative ID that would allow them to release a passport,” Jeehan said. “If the state kept a work permit instead, there would be no need for passports to be held.”

Despite efforts to outlaw the practice, Jeehan claimed that on the occasion of International Migrant Worker day back in December 2012 , a public forum was held with various stakeholders including the HRCM to try and raise awareness on critical issues facing migrant workers.

She added that during the course of the workshop, the HRCM had not been notified of any significant change in the practice of the state retaining passports.

“The state issued a circular prohibiting retention of passports that was applicable to private persons and agencies. But the state ministries continue retaining passports,” she claimed.

Having spoken with private sector employers about migrant workers rights, Jeehan added that many companies said they were following the state’s example by continuing to retain passports.

“The response we receive is that ‘if the state is practising this, we can do this as well’,” she said

Legislative focus

Despite criticism of efforts by the state and private sector to combat human trafficking, Jeehan claimed work had been undertaken to implement new legislation on combating human trafficking. She said this legislation was currently under review within parliament, stalled at committee stage.

The commission has said it remains involved in assisting the development of the human trafficking bill, which Jeehan said would be an important development towards addressing the rights of foreign workers.

According to Jeehan, a lack of legislation on human trafficking was regularly cited by authorities as a key set back to dealing with issues of labour exploitation and migrant rights.

However, she maintained that human trafficking itself goes back to the principle of exploitation, something that is prohibited in Islam and by extension the constitution of the Maldives.

“An estimated one third of the population is made up of migrant workers, so it is only justified we review this,” she added.

Jeehan claimed that as recently as last year, the Maldives Police Service did not have a legal mandate to even investigate potential cases of human trafficking.

The HRCM said efforts had now been taken to screen cases where foreign workers were complaining of non-payment of wages or not being given any free time, to ascertain whether they were victims of human trafficking.

She also expressed hope that the state would also move to clearly identify the individual roles that various stakeholders in the country would play in efforts to combat people smuggling; from institutions like the police and Immigration Department, to the human rights and youth ministries.

Government commitments

Besides signing the ILO conventions on labour rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this month also inaugurated an initiative targeted at raising awareness of the human trafficking issue in the Maldives.

The strategy, entitled the ‘Blue Ribbon Campaign Against Human Trafficking’ promises activities to try and raise awareness among students and the business community.

Speaking at the inauguration of the campaign last month, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Abdul Samad Abdulla stated that the initiative formed part of a larger plan to try addressing human trafficking in the Maldives.

This strategy is expected to include activities to try and raise awareness among students and the business community. The tourism industry, which employs the largest number of foreign staff in the country, was identified as another key focus of the initiative.

The ministry itself defines human trafficking as “taking undue advantage of a person through employing him, transferring him from place to place, taking guardianship of him, depriving him of making decisions on personal matters, assuming control over him through threats or abuse of power; or to create dependence, kidnap, or deceive him through any other means and take undue advantage of a person’s weaknesses and to conduct any of these activities in a manner that includes exchange of money from or to oneself.”

Under the new scheme, individuals held responsible for human trafficking offences would include staff in government offices mandated to oversee the issue, as well as companies and other groups found to be involved in illegal practices.

Employers who force employees to work with no respect or regard to protecting human rights and persons who obstruct the taking of legal action against people who commit human trafficking offences will also be held responsible, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Corrupt practices”

Earlier this month, one local trade union working in the tourism sector alleged that corrupt immigration practices and the use of unregulated employment agencies by private and state employers were limiting efforts to curb illegal treatment and abuse of migrant workers

At the same time, a source with knowledge of the current immigration system highlighted that the now illegal practice of retaining passports – a long-standing habit of Maldivian employers – remained a key contributor to human trafficking in the country.

Back in January, a Malaysian IT company at the centre of legal wrangling over a deal to provide a border control system (BCS) to the Maldivian government alleged “criminal elements” could be behind efforts to scupper the agreement.

Vice President for Nexbis Nafies Aziz told Minivan News at the time that “intelligence” received by the company suggested groups backing the country’s lucrative human trafficking industry could be seeking to sabotage the introduction of its BCS to undermine national security controls.

Foreign labourers are estimated to account for a significant proportion of the country’s workforce.  Just over a quarter of the Maldives population of 394,451 people is estimated to be made up of foreign workers, according to recent statistics supplied by the Department of Immigration and Emigration.

The official immigration figures found that the expatriate workforce in the Maldives had risen by September 2011 to 99,369 people from just 57,968 registered workers in December 2009.

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Defence Minister Nazim rejects allegations of police misconduct on Feb 8

Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim has rejected accusations that police officers committed criminal or “inhumane” acts against members of the public on February 8, 2012, instead blaming opposition party supporters for violence on the day.

Nazim was reported by newspaper Haveeru as claiming that police and military figures should not be held accountable for injuries sustained by members of the public during protests held over a three-day period between February 6 and February 8, 2012.

On February 7 last year, then President Mohamed Nasheed resigned from office. He subsequently alleged he had been forced to do so under “duress” on the back of a mutiny by sections of the police and military.

Speaking to private broadcaster DhiFM this week, Nazim rejected claims by the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) that some officers should be prosecuted for criminal behaviour due to how they dealt with protesters at the time the government changed.

Parliament’s Executive Oversight Committee (EOC) was told by the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) on Thursday that certain police officers should be prosecuted for alleged “unlawful actions” they committed in the build up to, and following, last year’s power transfer.

Parliament’s EOC is currently reviewing the report produced by the Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry (CNI), which looked into the events leading up to February 7, as well as its aftermath.

The CNI report, which was published in August last year, concluded there had been no coup, no duress and no mutiny during the controversial transfer of power that saw President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik sworn into office.  The report did however call for investigations into “acts of police brutality”.

The CNI findings were also welcomed at the time by the US State Department and the United Nations, but have continued to be branded a “whitewash” by the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Opposition “offence”

Nazim told DhiFM broadcast that injuries received by members of the public during protests held on February 8, 2012, were a result of confrontations with police.

He maintained that the “truth” of the day, which he claimed had been wiped from public memory, was that supporters of the opposition MDP had carried out an “offence” by committing acts of violence that served to reverse national development by 20 years in certain cases.

Police stations and court houses in six southern atolls were torched during February 8 last year after police violently cracked down in the capital Male’ on a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) march where thousands took to the streets in support of former President Nasheed.

In August last year, terrorism charges were pressed against over 40 people accused of setting the Seenu Gan police station on fire on February 8, including Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed Rasheed and Addu City Councillor Ahmed Mirzadh.

According to local media, Nazim alleged this week that senior figures in the MDP had requested that the archives and history of islands across the country be set on fire along with courts houses and police stations.

While the defence minister added that police had taken part in unspecified, “unprecedented acts” during the transfer of power, he said that law enforcement and security officials were not at fault for violence during and after the transfer of power, and that former President Nasheed should take full responsibility.

Injuries sustained by members of the public between February 6 and February 8 last year were a result of confronting police officers, Nazim said, and had not been sustained “from being at home”. He maintained that a probe into the clashes was ongoing.

Defence Minister Nazim was not responding to calls from Minivan News at the time of press. Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz’s phone was also switched off.

Prosecution calls

PIC Vice President Haala Hameed said earlier this week that the actions of some police officers during the controversial transfer of power amounted to crimes and should be prosecuted by the PG.

She claimed that the PIC had identified 29 cases of police misconduct, out of which cases concerning six police officers had been sent to the PG for prosecution. Furthermore, the PIC revealed that it had urged Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed to suspend the officers immediately.

Hameed said the commission had failed to identify the police officers in five of the remaining cases, while 11 other cases lacked supporting evidence. She also said the PIC was still investigating seven cases of police misconduct during the transfer of power.

“These are not disciplinary issues, but crimes. Aside from sending cases to the prosecutor general, we also recommended the Home Minister suspend these officers, because of the delays in prosecution. We believe these officers should not be serving in the police,” she said.

Prosecutor General Ahmed Muiz disputed Hameed’s claims at the time, suggesting that the actions of police officers did not amount to crimes but were “disciplinary issues”.

“I am not deterred or afraid of carrying out my duty. I am not influenced by anybody. By the will of God, I will continue to carry out my duty. I would have sent cases to court if there had been sufficient evidence needed for a successful prosecution,” Muiz said.

The PIC has said that it had investigated officers involved in alleged abuse as criminal cases rather than as disciplinary matters.

Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed responded in local media at the time that cases involving police officers whom the had PIC recommended be dismissed had been sent to the police disciplinary board.

Jameel said the Police Act and the regulations made under the act were very clear as to how a police officer could be dismissed or disciplined. He claimed that he would uphold the law and would not violate the Police Act.

“The PIC is an institution formed under the Police Act. I can’t simply remove a police officer simply based on a recommendation by the commission. That is why I sent the cases to police disciplinary board as soon as I got the [PIC]’s letter,” he told Haveeru.

Jameel also said it would be an unfair dismissal if the court acquitted a police officer who had been dismissed prior a verdict being reached.

Dr Jameel was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

International pressure for a thorough investigation into allegations of police abuse has continued.

The UK government earlier this week called for the government and other parties to work towards institutional reform in areas such as the judiciary, as well as “to fully investigate all allegations of police brutality, as recommended in the CoNI report.”

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Court released child sex abuse suspect to house arrest in victim’s home

The High Court this week rejected a request to place a male suspect accused of sexually abusing an 11-year old relation in custody. The suspect was previously held under house arrest at the same property where his alleged victim lived.

The Prosecutor General (PG’s) Office confirmed that following a remand hearing on Tuesday (February 5), the suspect had been released from the house arrest – with no restrictions currently placed upon his movement ahead of his unscheduled trial.

The remand hearing took place at a time when the PG’s Office is already facing government criticism for pursuing a case against a 15 year-old minor on charges of having “consensual sexual relations”.

The government, which has said it is in the process of reviewing and amending laws on sexual abuse with authorities including the Ministry of Gender, Family and Human rights and Islamic Ministry, today accused state prosecutors of showing “bad judgement” in charging the 15 year-old girl.

The two cases are the latest in a line of high profile sexual abuse trials concerning minors, which have met with international condemnation.

The 15 year-old presently facing charges of having “consensual sexual relations” has also been identified as the victim of child sex abuse in an unrelated criminal case also being pursued by authorities.

The PG’s Office confirmed this week that after reviewing the charges against the 15 year-old girl, a decision had been taken to proceed with her trial at the Juvenile Court over charges of fornication. The PG’s Office was unable to comment further.

However, a source familiar with the matter told Minivan News that the charges against the minor had to be pursued because the girl had confessed to having consensual sex.  The charges relate to an incident reported before her alleged sexual abuse.

Meanwhile, the PG’s Office confirmed to Minivan News that the High Court rejected a request on February 5 to retain a sexual abuse suspect – believed to be an uncle of the victim – after it emerged he had been kept under house arrest in the same property as the 11 year-old victim.

A source with knowledge of the case said that the court released the suspect after enquiring as to why police and state prosecutors had failed to raise concerns about the house arrest earlier.

With no date yet scheduled for the suspect’s trial, the outcome of the remand hearing has meant the suspect had no restrictions on his movement, according to the source.

Minivan News understands the victim has since been moved to a new location on a separate island.

Government legal review

With these two high profile sexual abuse cases ongoing in the courts, the Maldives government has maintained its commitment to reviewing related laws in the Maldives.

President’s Office Media Secretary Masood Imad told Minivan News today that certain laws in the country, which he has previously criticised as treating sexual abuse victims as perpetrators, would be amended following consultations with relevant government authorities.

“We will be holding a one day seminar with the Islamic Ministry either sometime next week or the week after,” Masood said.

The government last month announced its intention to review the laws within the space of a few weeks. However, Masood added that there were many “pressing issues” requiring its attention at the present time.

Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali and Acting Minister of Gender, Family and Human Rights,  Dr Mariyam Shakeela were not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

“Bad judgement”

Despite its stated commitment to review laws concerning sexual abuse in the country, Masood added that the PG’s Office itself remained an independent entity that pursued cases without government involvement.

He added that prosecutors had shown “bad judgement” in pursuing the case involving the 15 year-old while other matters were still pending.

Highlighting what he perceived to be more pressing issues for the PG’s Office, Masood raised concerns against MPs Abdulla Jabir and Hamid Abdul Ghafoor – both aligned with the opposition Maldvian Democratic Party (MDP) – over their alleged  refusal to provide a urine sample after they were arrested under suspicion of drinking alcohol in November 2012.

MPs Jabir – at the time an elected representative for the government-aligned Jumhoree Party (JP) – and Hamid were arrested back in November along with eight others on the island of  island of Hodaidhoo in Haa Dhaal Atoll, on suspicion of drug and alcohol offences.

“[The PG’s Office] should be taking [to court] the issue of suspects refusing to give urine tests after being found at drunken parties,” Masood claimed.

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Police arrest former head of Disaster Management Centre over fraud investigation

Police have arrested former Immigration Controller and head of the Disaster Management Centre, Abdulla Shahid, in connection with a corruption case involving MVR 24 million (US$1.55 million).

Police Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef told Minivan News that Shahid was arrested at 11:00am this morning.

‘’He was arrested in connection with an  MVR 24 million fraud case,’’ Haneef said. ‘’Police are conducting a joint investigation with the Anti-Corruption Commission.’’

During his tenure as Immigration Controller under the Nasheed administration, Shahid was a key opponent of the controversial Nexbis border control system, which parliament unanimously voted to terminate in December.

The case involving the Disaster Management Centre concerns an audit report produced by the Auditor General. In the report, the Auditor General alleged that the MVR 24 million was fraudulently obtained from the budget allocated for the Centre for the year 2009 and 2010.

The Auditor General’s special report into the case alleged that the Disaster Management Centre had photocopied, edited and reused ‘Credit Purchase Order Forms’ used in 2005, to withdraw the MVR 24 million from the Centre’s budget at the Finance Ministry.

The ‘Credit Purchase Order Forms’ were originally given to the Disaster Management Centre in 2005 to withdraw cash from the Tsunami Recovery Fund.

The Auditor General’s report also suggested that the Finance Ministry was complicit in the alleged fraud.

In March 2012, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) sent a corruption case to the Prosecutor General’s Office concerning the Disaster Management Centre and a housing project carried out on Gan in Laamu Atoll, following damage suffered in the 2004 tsunami.

The ACC entered the Disaster Management Centre with a police escort in October last year during the investigation process.

The ACC asked the Prosecutor General’s office to prosecute the two deputy heads of the DMC, and a senior official of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury.

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Media Council concludes investigation of Minivan News

The Maldives Media Council (MMC) has issued a statement concluding its investigation into Minivan News at the behest of the Islamic Ministry concerning the publication of comments by an individual “who assumed the name of Allah and had harassed Islam and Allah.”

The case concerned a comment located on a story dated November 28, 2012 titled: ‘Government “cynically used xenophobia, nationalism and religious extremism” to attack foreign investor: former President’, in which a reader posted a comment under the pseudonym ‘Maai Allah’.

Minivan News at the time complied with a Criminal Court warrant dated December 3, seeking both the comment’s removal and the provision of the commentator’s email and IP address on the grounds they had violated Islamic principles.

Following the removal of the comment, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs sent a letter to the Communications Authority of the Maldives (CAM), dated December 5 and obtained by the Minivan News, calling for the site to be shut down.

“It has come to this ministry’s knowledge that among the comments published on an article named “Government ‘cynically used xenophobia, nationalism and religious extremism’ to attack foreign investor: former President” there were some comments made under the name of’ ‘Maai Allah’ offending Allah and Islam,” wrote Minister of State for Islamic Affairs, Mohamed Didi.

“Hence, the management of the prior-mentioned website has breached Article 8 and 10 of the regulation made under the Religious Unity Act. We therefore request you to close down that website at the earliest possible convenience, and to take action against online newspapers and websites which publish writing of this manner,” the letter reads.

Deputy Director General of CAM, Abdulla Nafeeq Faashaa, referred the matter to the MMC on December 10, stating in a letter that it was “in the mandate of the Maldives Media Council to govern codes of conduct and ethical standards, and because it is also in the council’s mandate to look into complaints sent in regarding media content.”

Faashaa further advised the MMC that “we would like to assure you that this authority will extend any technical work that needs to be done regarding this matter.”

The original letter was sent to the MMC on December 11.

In a statement this week, the MMC said the investigation panel had been informed by “those running Minivan News that the concerned comment has been removed from the website and have assured the council that no such comment has been published anymore. And the newspaper has also assured that such a thing would not be repeated by its editorial board. The council believes that Minivan News has therefore taken steps to make amends following the action and have been also informed the complainant.”

“Also, while looking into the case, the council strongly believed that Minivan News editor should adhere to the laws of the Republic of Maldives, therefore the council has decided formally request the owners of Minivan News website to ensure that its editor remains in line with the laws of the country,” the MMC stated.

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Funding and “public hesitancy” key challenges for continuing successful immunisation program

Some 95 percent of the target population of the Maldives’ national inoculation program have received their recommended vaccinations, despite declining state funding for such initiatives and growing public reticence, health authorities have said.

While ongoing commitments by Maldives authorities to protect the public against preventable diseases were praised this month by international experts, sources within the Ministry of Health have said maintaining high immunisation coverage across the country remains challenging.

Aishath Thimna Latheef, Public Health Program Manager for the Expanded Program on Immunisation (EPI) at the Ministry of Health told Minivan News that a lack of funding for additional training and supervision were among crucial challenges facing national inoculation efforts.

Other issues included a growing number of parents opting against having their children inoculated, and need for improved coordination with private schools.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reviewed the Maldives EPI and vaccine preventable disease (VPD) surveillance programs between January 27 and February 3 this year, and praised the country’s efforts.

Representatives from the Ministry of Health, UNICEF, the Centre for Communicable Diseases, Atlanta (CDC) and experts from Indonesia, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka conducted the review, according to the WHO.

“The government is ensuring immunisation against 10 vaccine preventable diseases. Furthermore, steps are being undertaken for the introduction of pentavalent vaccines into routine immunisation schedules,” said the WHO.

“The team verified that more than 95 percent of the target population have received all the recommended vaccines and immunisation service delivery functions, including vaccine distribution and cold chain management. Effective partnership with the government, WHO, UNICEF and other stakeholders have contributed to these achievements.”

The review was the first study of its kind to be conducted in the country since 2006, following previous research carried out in 1994 and 1988.

“Basic right”

Immunisation Program Manager Thimna maintained that immunisation was a “basic right” of Maldives children under successive governments.

“The government regards children as one of the most important assets of the nation and therefore every effort should be made without discrimination of person’s gender and socio-economic status to promote welfare and full development of their potential for a useful and quality of life,” she said.

“This policy has not changed. Immunisation in the Maldives is 100-percent government funded. But over the years the funds for immunisation have gradually declined, limited now to only the purchase of vaccines and vaccine consumables. Training, supportive supervision and IEC developments are not funded any more. From a programmatic perspective, this is a serious concern for us.”

According to Thimna, the reduced funding was a direct result of economic difficulties experienced in recent years that had resulted in continued calls to cut state expenditure both from within parliament and by international organisations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Beyond financial challenges, authorities indicated that education was another area needing review in order to ensure that all children and young people were being included in national inoculation plans.

According to Thimna, in 1994 the government introduced a policy whereby each schoolchild studying at a public institution was included in a state immunisation program.

However, she contended that with a growing number of public schools in the country, some of these institutions were not following state policies such as the inoculation program.

Without greater collaboration between the state and private education providers, Thimna claimed that a growing number of young people faced being excluded from the national immunisation program if fewer schools signed up.

Anther potential concern identified by authorities was a small but growing number of parents who were opting not to have their children immunised, for unspecified reasons.

Thimna said while only a small number of children were not receiving inoculations recommended by the state as a result of “vaccine hesitancy” among parents, the issue was growing and could potentially become a “huge concern” for authorities in the future if not addressed.

However, she stressed that recent amendments to national legislation did grant health authorities power under the law to give vaccinations to children – even if parents refused – on the grounds of public health.

“The most recent change is the passing of Public Health Act in December 17, 2012. This has given some power to the program to address issues of vaccine hesitancy. But this will only be in action after the rules and regulations and  developed and  incorporated and a new immunisation policy is developed,” Thimna added.

Polio prevention

Addressing the potential risk of a re-emergence  of the polio virus, Thimna said the country was always at risk of importation of such threats.  According to official statistics, the last reported indigenous case of the virus in the Maldives was 1982, however the last imported case of the polio virus was in 1994.

“As a tourist destination, the Maldives is always at risk of importation like any other country in the world. We need to have stringent active and passive Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) surveillance to detect and investigate any case of suspected polio. This is something which we already do but needs to be strengthened,” Thimna said.

“The only thing that would perhaps work in our favour if  an importation occurs is the high level of  hygiene and sanitation in the Maldives.”

In an open editorial piece last month, Regional Director for the WHO in the South-East Asia region, Dr Samlee Plianbangchang, stressed a need for vigilance to eradicate the virus from the region.

With India having recorded a second consecutive year without a reported case of polio virus, Dr Plianbangchang called for sustained efforts to combat potential spreads of the disease, particularly across international borders.

“Although not all countries face the same risk, most countries in the region remain at a risk of polio resurgence through a distant or cross border importation of the wild polio virus from countries where it continues to circulate,” he wrote.

“As India completes two years without any cases of wild polio virus, WHO’s South-East Asia Region is firmly on-track for polio-free certification in early 2014. The South-East Asia Region will be the fourth WHO Region to be certified as polio free, the first Region in more than 12 years after the European Region was certified in 2002.”

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Dangerous fake ‘LSD’ in the Maldives, warns Police Commissioner

Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz has warned that a very dangerous fake LSD drug is being distributed in the Maldives by local drug lords, which could ”stop your heart.”

‘’LSD is a very dangerous drug. It could stop your heart. Reports received that fake LSD is supplied and that some drug users are on it,’’ Riyaz tweeted yesterday.

Today police released a statement informing the public that early this morning at 3:30 am the body of a man was discovered lying inside Antennae Park.

Police said they had confirmed the deceased’s identity as Ahmed Nazeef Shaukath of Augusta House in Henveiru Ward, Male’.

According to the statement, Nazeef’s body was taken to ADK hospital immediately where doctors determined he was dead.

A close friend of Nazeef told Minivan News that he had been called by friends this morning to inform him that Nazeef had died from a LSD overdose.

Yesterday, police reported the discovery of dead body lying on a street in Hulhumale’ at 4:45am early on Tuesday morning.

The police identified the body as 19 year-old Mohamed Shahud Nazim, of Mercury House in Maafannu Ward, Male’.

According to police, two men were standing next to the body when it was discovered. Police said the two men were intoxicated and were arrested.

Sources familiar with the case told Minivan News that the two persons arrested tested positive for LSD and were in possession of the drug when police arrested them.

In a statement, police said doctors at the hospital had informed them the victim was dead when he reached hospital.

Two further deaths

Meanwhile, two residents of Villingili in Gaafu Alifu Atoll died after having difficulties breathing.

According to Villingili hospital, the men were dead when they were brought to the hospital.

According to the police, one of the men died while he was on the island of Kooddoo in Gaafu Alifu Atoll and the other died while he was on Villingili, also in Gaafu Alifu Atoll.

Police said they men were aged 33 and 58 and both died after having difficulties breathing.

Police have not said the deaths are linked.

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Comment: FDI and strategic security concerns

Blackstone Group, the US-based MNC with multifarious investment interests across the world, has bought majority shares in the only two Maldivian air-taxi companies, together owning a fleet of close to 50 sea-planes, for an undisclosed sum.

Coming within weeks of the government throwing out Indian infrastructure group GMR  from the airport construction-concession contract, questions need to be answered on issues relating to FDI and strategic security considerations.

The government can take pride that FDI has not dried up after the ‘GMR row’. Nor have perceptions of political instability in the country upset foreign investors into staying away. Together, they could ease pressures on future governments, too, in an election year, and presidential aspirants can now promise the moon both to the foreign investor and to their own local population.

Yes, larger issues, settled decades ago, may need to be re-addressed if the ‘GMR kind’ of problem does not end up showing up without notice on a later date.

There is a major difference between the GMR contract and the current Blackstone deal. The Male’ airport and the company were/are state property, whereas the two sea-plane companies are privately-owned, to the extent they stand on separate legs.

Yet when the issue of ‘national security’ and other national concerns were flagged in the GMR case, the same would apply to an overseas ‘monopoly’ having a near-free access to Maldivian air space as any other state-owned airliner.

Strategic assets and national assets

Procedural issues were cited in cancelling the GMR contract, yet the question of handing over the nation’s sole international airport to an ‘outsider’ was also flagged almost from the day the deal was proposed to be signed. The question remains if it was time for Maldivian government to frame laws and rules to monitor and clear FDI in ‘strategic sectors’, and define in the process, what these ‘strategic sectors’ could well be.

Or, will eternal uncertainty about the prospective nature of retrospective investment contracts become the order of the day, with near-arbitrary decisions taken at whim, causing concern all around?

For now, the controversial and equally-rushed Finance Act amendment of 2010, compelling the government to seek parliamentary approval for altering the nature of ‘national assets’ may require re-visiting.

Like the GMR contract, the Blackstone deal was a done deed the day they were signed by the parties concerned. Yet there is no knowing if a future dispensation in Male and/or a newly-elected parliament, if not the present one, will impose new conditions on private sector national players for inducting foreign investments and investors into their existing and prospective ventures.

The irony of the argument based on ‘national assets’ in the case of the GMR remain. The new definition and consequent distinction was made full 30 years after the Maldivian government of the day encouraged FDI in the resort tourism sector in a very big way. It is this that has changed the face of Maldives from being a small and far-away island community living in a past of compulsive contentment into a vibrant nation that has become the desired destination of the global community as a tourism centre and investment-attraction.

As is known, the resort companies, with foreign equity participation and an excessive number of overseas staff at all levels, have been in possession of isolated islets for developing idyllic resorts – most of whose guests are foreigners, too.

The Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) in the national capital of Male, too, has been brimming with foreign-registered aircraft in their dozens and foreign tourists in their thousands, for years now. There has been next-to-nil security-checks in these islands, barring an occasional clash between the owners and the employees, or in times of accidental death in the adjoining seas.

Against this, the airport that was leased out to the GMR group was brimming with personnel of the Maldivian security agencies, including the MNDF, MPS, Customs and others. Yet, the question of ‘national assets’ was not posed against the resort islands at inception, or posted against them, when the phraseology was included to impose parliament’s will on policy-making.

The American MNC’s concept and confidence in the nebulous run-up to the twin elections for the presidency and parliament in the next 15 months, all in the midst of the tentative nature of the political stability in the nation, is thus noteworthy.

Geo-strategic perceptions

Post-Cold War, the global perception of geo-strategic concerns in the Maldives has undergone a sea-change. ‘FDI’ in Maldives has acquired a new dimension than at a time when the nation was inviting in the tourism sector. It has come to such a pass that FDI in the utilities sector, like desalination and power-supply, have come to be viewed with suspicion from within and anxieties from the outside.

It is thus that the western perception of India’s strategic concerns for the Maldives has revolved around the ‘China factor’ flowing from the ‘String of Pearls’ theory, an American academic construct.

What should add to the national discourse at the time is the emerging scenario of the Maldives becoming an oil-producing country. At least two presidential aspirants, and both former Finance Ministers, have begun talking about exploring oil extraction prospects if elected President. Abdulla Yameen of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and Gasim Ibrahim of the Jumhooree Party (JP) are otherwise credited with pragmatism in politics and political administration as in the businesses that they run.

Gasim has since recalled how as a losing candidate in the 2008 presidential polls, he had flagged the issue. He has since pooh-poohed Umar Naseer, a contender for PPM nomination for the presidential polls along with Yameen, that oil exploration could affect on the tourism sector, the mainstay of Maldivian economy at present. Yameen has pointed out how in the past oil exploration could not be taken up for want of adequate technology, which is now available.

In these times of ever-increasing fuel costs impacting on national economies the world over, the ‘strategic importance’ of any oil-find has greater significance for post-Cold War Maldives than is acknowledged. An infant democracy, still experimenting with the respective rights and powers of its constitutional institutions, the Maldives will soon be called upon to define, and decide upon, the nature and definitions of ‘strategic assets’ before moving on to the next stage of declaring what the nation intends getting out of them, and is willing to give in, too.

After all, oil exploration, like air-taxiing and airport-development, involves big-time FDI, relative to the Maldives’ aspirations and requirements. If one were to acknowledge that the Maldives cannot fund such ambitious projects without external funding, technology and skilled labour, then identifying sectors and partners assumes as much significance as electing a domestic government, entrusted with that very task.

The writer is a Senior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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