Category: Society & Culture

US private equity fund buys both Maldivian seaplane operators for undisclosed sum

US-based private equity fund Blackstone has bought a controlling stake in both the Maldives’ seaplane operators, Trans Maldivian Airways (TMA) and Maldivian Air Taxi (MAT).

Blackstone, with annual revenue of US$3.119 billion and total assets of US$18.845 billion, bought the seaplane operators for an undisclosed sum.

Senior Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer at Blackstone’s Private Equity unit based in New York, Prakash Melwani, said the investment “will enable us to build a strong partnership with the Maldives.”

“We are excited to partner with MAT and TMA, whose seaplane operations have contributed significantly to the development of resort islands further away from Male and making them accessible to tourists. Blackstone manages, through its portfolio companies, the largest number of hotel rooms in the world and this transaction marks our sustained enthusiasm for the travel and tourism space,” he said.

Founder of MAT Lars Erik Nielsen and majority shareholders of TMA, Lars Petré and Hussain Afeef, will retain “a substantial shareholding and continue to play a significant role in the companies, including serving as directors on the board,” Blackstone said in a statement.

“The Maldivian economy will gain from the presence of one of the world’s largest and most respected investment firms,” said Petré.

Nielsen stated that the move will benefit the career growth of the workers employed by the two airlines.

“In addition, together we look forward to delivering more efficient services to the tourists coming to the Maldives and the resorts in which they are staying. This combination will increase service efficiency to our resorts,” he said.

TMA Director Afeef said Blackstone would “bring to Maldives a wide global experience and an established track record in the tourism and hospitality sector. Incorporating global best practices would be beneficial not just to the companies but to the tourism industry, in general.”

TMA was started in 1988 as a helicopter operator under the name ‘Hummingbird’, which was changed to TMA in 1998 after the fleet was switched to Twin Otter aircraft. Competing operator MAT was set up in 1992.

Together both airlines operate over 40 aircraft and play both an iconic and critical role in the country’s tourism industry, transferring arrivals at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) to resorts in neighbouring atolls and greatly expanding the capacity for tourism around the capital. Domestic air travel over longer distances – to destinations such as Addu Atoll – is served by conventional aircraft.

The substantial investment comes months after the Maldivian government expropriated the main international airport from Indian infrastructure giant GMR, declaring its concession agreement void and ordering it out of the country within seven days. The US$511 million project was at the time the country’s single largest foreign investment.

Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb said the Blackstone investment was a sign of confidence in the Maldivian economy, and represented a “green light” to other foreign investors.

“When a large company such as Blackstone invests in the Maldives, it shows that investors have confidence in the Maldives. Moreover, investors have set their sights on Maldives and is on their radar,” Adheeb told local media.

Deal creates a monopoly in critical sector

Former Minister of Economic Development Mahmood Razee, also former Minister of Civil Aviation, noted that the purchase “is not really a foreign investment since no additional equity is being brought into the country. Another firm has just bought the shares,” he said.

Moreover, the purchase of a controlling stake in the only two seaplane operators by a single company had effectively monopolised the market, he warned.

“This is a very exclusive market, and critical to the tourism industry. Even though both MAT and TMA operate the same aircraft, they have not previously been willing to cooperate,” Razee said.

“Now, without any discussion, they have been taken over and effectively become a monopoly,” he said, explaining that the Maldives did not have anti-monopoly laws which may have otherwise obstructed the sale: “We were looking at these when we were putting together the economic reform package [under the former government].”

Previously, resort managers could approach both companies seeking the better price for seaplane services, upon which they were reliant for the vast majority of their guest arrivals: “Now there is no effective competition, as the major shareholder is one and the same,” Razee said.

He acknowledged that “in an ideal world” prices could come down, as the two companies have been operating identical aircraft but duplicating maintenance and other services. However the end of this practice could affect jobs, he suggested.

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Comment: Commonwealth must reopen CoNI in light of new evidence

Dear 
Secretary 
General Kamalesh Sharma,

New 
evidence 
has 
emerged which
 casts
 doubt
 over
 the
 validity
 of 
the 
final 
report
 by
 the
 Commission
 of
 National
 Inquiry 
(CoNI),
 published
 in
 August
 2012.

Following
 its
 publication,
 CoNI’s
 report
 was
 sent
 to 
the 
relevant 
Maldivian 
parliamentary 
oversight
 committee, 
who
 decided
 to 
investigate 
the 
facts 
and
 procedures 
of 
the 
report
 to 
ensure
 its 
accuracy. 
Through
 careful 
review
 of 
the
 report, 
it
 has 
been revealed
 that 
vital 
evidence 
relating 
to 
CoNI’s 
core 
mandate was
 ignored
 and 
no 
explanation 
was 
given 
as 
to 
the 
reason
 for
 this,
 despite 
claims 
by 
CoNI
 that 
no 
information 
was 
disregarded.

CoNI’s
 mandate
 was 
to 
investigate 
whether 
President 
Nasheed
 resigned
 under 
duress,
 due 
to
 threats
 to
 his 
life, 
or 
not. 
The 
committee
 summoned
 Former
 Commissioner 
of 
Police, 
Ahmed
 Faseeh; 
Former 
Chief 
of 
Defense
 Force, 
Moosa 
Ali 
Jaleel;
 Brigadier 
General,
 Ahmed
 Nilam; 
Former 
Chief 
Superintendent 
of 
Police, 
Mohamed 
Hameed 
and 
Former 
Superintendent
 of Police, 
Mohamed
 Jinah
 under
 the 
power
 vested 
in 
a
 parliamentary 
committee
 by 
Article
 99 
of 
the 
Constitution.

Former 
Chief 
of 
Defense 
Force 
Jaleel; 
Former 
CS
 Hameed
 and
 Brigadier
 General 
Nilam
 confirmed
 to 
the 
committee’s
 investigation that
 there 
was 
a 
plot 
to
 assassinate
 President
 Nasheed
 and 
that
 on 
the 
7th 
of 
February
 2012,
 the 
environment
 was 
such
 that 
President 
Nasheed
 had 
reason
 to 
believe 
that 
his 
life 
was 
in
 danger.

This 
information 
was 
further
 verified
 when 
PPM
 Deputy 
Leader,
 Umar
 Naseer,
 in 
an 
interview 
with 
Minivan 
News, 
confirmed 
that
 the
 ousting
 of 
President 
Nasheed
 “did
 not
 happen
 automatically” 
and
 that 
“planning, 
propaganda
 and 
lots 
of 
work” 
went
in 
to
 oust 
the 
constitutionally‐elected 
President. 
Mr 
Naseer 
refused
 to 
cooperate 
with 
the
 Commonwealth
 approved
 CoNI.

In
 addition,
 former
 cabinet 
minister
 (for
 the
 present
 government),
 Ms
 Dhiyana Saeed
 has 
published
 a 
memoir
 regarding 
the
 events 
of
 7th 
February
 2012,
 and
 states
 that 
a
 certain 
‘Mr
 X
 and 
Mr
 Y’
 (later
 revealed
 as 
Deputy 
Speaker
 of 
the
 Parliament,
 Mohamed 
Nazim
 and
 MP 
Mohamed
 Nasheed
 respectively)
 had 
spoken
 to 
her
 of 
a
 plan
 to
 assassinate
 President
 Nasheed,
 in 
which
 the 
present 
Minister 
of 
Defence
 and 
the
 Commissioner 
of 
Police 
were
 involved.

It 
is 
a 
grave
 matter 
of 
concern,
 that 
none 
of 
these 
issues 
were
 highlighted 
by 
the 
two observers 
appointed 
by 
the 
Commonwealth
 to 
CoNI’s 
investigation.

In 
light 
of 
the 
above,
 it 
is 
evident
 that 
the 
validity 
of 
the 
CoNI 
report 
is 
questionable. 
These 
are 
the 
three 
issues 
we 
would
 like 
to 
see 
the 
Commonwealth
 focusing
 on:

1. 
Reopening 
the 
CoNI 
report
 in 
the 
light 
of 
the 
latest 
information
 and 
establishing why
 these 
testimonies 
and 
evidence 
from
 leading
 members
 of 
the 
military 
and
police 
were 
not 
included
 in
 the 
CoNI
 report.

2.
 Overseeing 
a 
further 
inquiry 
into 
the 
threats
 against
 the 
life 
of 
the 
former 
head
 of 
state, 
President
 Mohamed
 Nasheed.

3. 
Pressuring 
the 
current
 president
 to 
establish 
a 
caretaker 
government
 until 
free 
and
 fair 
elections 
can 
be 
held.

Lucy Johnson is a member of UK-based NGO, Friends of Maldives

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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Government, GMR appoint arbitrators in compensation case

Arbitrators have been appointed to determine the amount of compensation payable by the Maldivian government to Indian infrastructure giant GMR, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

GMR signed a US$511 million 25-year concession agreement with the Nasheed government to manage and upgrade Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).

However in November 2012, the government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik declared the developer’s concession agreement void and ordered it to leave the country within seven days.

A last minute injunction from the Singapore High Court during arbitration proceedings was overturned on December 6, after Singapore’s Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon declared that “the Maldives government has the power to do what it wants, including expropriating the airport.”

GMR is seeking US$800 million in compensation for the sudden termination, while the Maldivian government is contending that it owes nothing as the contract was “void ab initio”, or invalid from the outset.

The awarding of the bid in 2010 was overseen by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), which the Waheed government has accused of being “negligent” and “irresponsible”.

The Maldives’ Deputy Solicitor General Ahmed Usham told local media today that the Maldives would be represented by Singapore National University Professor M. Sonaraja, while former Chief Justice of the UK, Lord Nicholas Edison Phillips, will represent GMR.

The arbitrator mutually agreed by GMR and the government is retired senior UK Judge, Lord Leonard Hubert Hoffman, according to the Attorney General’s office.

“They have sent us the terms and conditions now. A day to start the arbitration proceedings will be decided once it is agreed to and signed,” Usham was reported as saying.

Should the matter be decided in the government’s favour, uncertainty remains as to the potential impact on foreign investor sentiment given the prospect of sudden asset seizure under the ‘void ab initio’ precedent.

If decided in GMR’s favour, the outcome of the case could potentially see the Maldives facing sovereign bankruptcy, with millions of dollars in additional debt emptying the state’s already dwindling reserves, crippling the country’s ability to obtain further credit, and potentially sparking an economic or currency crisis.

In December 2012, the Maldives government paid back US$50 million to the State Bank of India, after it refused to extend the period of the treasury bonds issued by the bank during the previous government. India has called in further instalments of US$50 million, forcing the government to draw on the state reserves.

Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad has said the government is yet to come to an arrangement to pay the next US$50 million instalment to SBI, explaining that the money will have to come from the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).

“The US$50 million due in February will have to be paid from the reserve. We have been ordered to pay the amount. There has been no change to the order so far. So it must be paid,” Jihad told local media.

At the start of 2013, state reserves had shrunk to MVR 4.9 billion (US$317.7 million), according to the MMA.

“Gross international reserves at the MMA have been declining slowly, and now account for just one and half months of imports, and could be more substantially pressured if major borrowings maturing in the next few months are not rolled over,” an International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation observed during a mission to the Maldives in November last year.

Moreover, one of GMR’s lenders, Axis Bank, is also seeking the repayment of loans for the airport project, which were guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance and approved by the Attorney General’s Office under the former government.

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Criminal Court concludes hearings into terrorism charges against Shahum

The Criminal Court has concluded hearings into terrorism charges against Ibrahim Shahum Adam of Galolhu Couzy.

Spokesperson for the Criminal Court, Ahmed Mohamed Manik, said the court will deliver a verdict in the case on  February 24.

Shahum was charged with terrorism after he allegedly attacked a group of men with a sharp weapon in March 2010, March, near Maaziya football stadium in Maafannu Ward. He also stands accused of murder is a separate case.

One of the victims of in the Maafannu attack died the following day. He was identified by the police at the time as 17 year-old Mohamed Hassan.

The victim was admitted to Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital and was treated for more than eight hours in the intensive care unit, but the knife had severed a major artery and despite an emergency blood transfusion he died the following morning at 6:15am. He was was buried that afternoon at Aasahara cemetery.

A person familiar with the matter told Minivan News at the time that the boy was stabbed while climbing on to the back of a lorry after watching a football match held in the Maaziya football ground.

“He was with his friends on a lorry and about to leave when they were attacked by a group of people armed with stones and sticks,” the source said. “After a while they came close and stabbed him with a knife. Two other boys were also stabbed, one in the chest and another in the leg.’’

Shahum was previously sentenced to a year in prison for attacking a fellow student in an Imam course.

The Criminal Court has almost concluded the second trial against Shahum, concerning his alleged murder of 21 year-old Ahusan Basheer in 2011.

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Kun’burudhoo development hampered by bureaucracy, insufficient budget

The council of the island of Kun’burudhoo in Alif Dhaal Atoll is struggling to meet its mandate of bringing development to its population of just over 500 people, a problem they say is increased due to insufficient annual budget.

The Council President Mohamed Azmy, who was voted in as an independent candidate, echoed the concerns of atoll councils and the Local Government Authority(LGA) that the biggest challenge faced by the council was the lack of adequate funding.

“Last year’s budget covered nothing more than salaries and some stationery for the office. And this year, we have received an even lower budget,” Azmy said. “To add to this, the Decentralisation Act overlaps with other stronger laws and this in the end inhibits us from fundraising through other means.”

Azmy said the Ministry of Finance had notified island councils in late 2012 that any earnings of the councils are to be considered part of the state budget and must be deposited with the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA).

Council Member Ahmed Ashraf, from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), added that the past year’s budget had proved insufficient to maintain the office’s phone and fax lines, or to establish a work space for any of the council members besides the President.

“This is our work space,” Ashraf said, gesturing at a ‘joali’, a set of reclining seats, placed outside the office. “It’s impossible to work productively in conditions such as these. There is so much we are mandated to do for our island, but how will we achieve it unless the state can provide us with resources or at least the autonomy to raise funds ourselves?”

The councillors stated that despite a period of almost three years having passed since the local council elections, the LGA had still not transferred the government-owned lands, which can be used to generate income, to the jurisdiction of the council, citing administrative delays as a cause.

Relocation: President suggests Hulhumale’

President Mohamed Waheed Hassan pledged to address the major concerns of the council during a meeting held January 9.

Speaking of the small size of the island, and the ensuing lack of natural resources and difficulty in providing basic services, Waheed suggested relocating of the island’s population.

Vice President of the Council Mohamed Adam stated that the people of Kun’burudhoo had some demands if they were to be relocated, and that they would only accept the idea on condition that they were moved to a more developed island with a better standard of living.

“We haven’t released any land to individuals in over 30 years. Now there are large families sharing homes here and living standards are decreasing day by day,” Adam said, also pointing out the less than adequate health and education facilities.

The council said Waheed spoke of possibly moving the island’s people to Hulhumale’ during the second phase of its development or to the island of Maafushi, another island close to the capital city of Male’.

President’s Office Spokesperson Ahmed Thaufeeq denied that any mention of specific islands had been made during the time.

“Relocating smaller populations to larger islands is part of this government’s plan. However, we have not yet identified specifically which island will be relocated where. Moving people to Hulhumale’ is definitely not in our plans yet. I have no knowledge of any such plans,” he said.

Adam said that the council was aware that Waheed, as he had promised in the meeting, had approached the Health Ministry asking them to deal with the issues at the island’s health centre.

“It’s a level two health centre. Normally, centres at this tier have approximately 15 staff. In our case, we only have one doctor, one nurse, one community health officer, one administrative staff and one labourer. It’s extremely difficult to cater to people’s needs,” Azmy said. “We hope the health ministry responds to this in a timely manner.”

“There’s also the matter of our mosque. We closed it down last August when we discovered human remains on the premises. Now the ladies’ mosque is open for general use, but this cannot remain a permanent solution. We did put this matter forward to Waheed too,” Azmy continued.

The final issue the council took to the President was the matter of erosion and the damaged revetments of the recently constructed jetty.

The Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) constructed the jetty in 2009 during Nasheed’s administration.

“This island has been facing the problem of erosion for years. When Nasheed came to power, he kept his pledge and constructed this jetty for us. Now, the jetty is showing signs of wear and tear. We are speaking with the government to find a way to deal with this before matters worsen, but there’s a confusion as to who has to take responsibility,” Azmy said.

Adam said according to the government, the MTCC had not officially handed over the jetty to the government to date.

“If we try to repair this ourselves, it might end up as us acting illegally. Unless this jetty is officially handed over, we ourselves can do nothing about it,” Adam said.

Thaufeeq said that the matter was currently being discussed with MTCC. He stated that the government was working to solve the issue as soon as possible.

“Of the four issues discussed at the meeting, the only action we’ve seen so far from the government is the letter sent to the Health Ministry. There’s been no news on anything else, but I hope what was said at the meeting does translate into action soon,” Adam said.

Waste dumped into sea

“Land erosion has always been a huge problem on this island. After the jetty was built, the erosion is now occurring on the eastern side of the island, opposite from where we had the problem before,” Ashraf said.

Besides soil erosion, the second biggest issue was pollution of the seas. The island does not have any waste management system.

“We leave waste management up to the households. There is a designated area where households burn their waste, but food items and other such waste often just get dumped into the sea,” Adam said.

“I understand that the environment is a very fragile thing. Nevertheless, I don’t see how we can ask the people to not dispose of their waste in the sea unless we can show them alternative means.”

Azmy said plans had been set in place to build a garbage site on the island during the previous administration, but that the council had heard no news about the project after the change in government.

Meanwhile, a number of large dustbins have been placed along the road adjacent to the jetty, bearing the logo of Conrad Maldives Rangali Island.

“Conrad donated those dustbins. The people are only allowed to throw waste like tins, bottles and packets into it. We at the council arrange its disposal. It’s strictly not for household waste,” Ashraf explained.

“Waste management is a massive problem which our government needs to deal with. The Environment Ministry is drafting up a plan to deal with the issue. There are currently mechanisms being put in place to manage waste in Male’, and we will do the same for big and small islands across the country in time,” Thaufeeg said, in response to the matter.

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Local media “misrepresenting and twisting issues”: Indian High Commission

The Indian High Commission has issued a statement slamming local media in the Maldives for “misrepresentation and twisting of issues”.

“The High Commission has noted a recent trend in a section of local media to publish negative, unsubstantiated reports, while blacking out objective and positive news on Indian issues,” the Commission said.

“These reports have the potential to create negative public sentiment and reflect a non-serious approach by the media concerned while dealing with sensitive issues,” the statement added.

The statement highlighted several recent examples, such as coverage of the Maldivian national Ahmed Ruffan Ali, who was reported as alleging he had been “tortured” in an Indian jail after being detained for illegally smuggling peacock feathers.

“The High Commission facilitated major help and assistance for the release of the youth while in distress in India,” the statement read.

“While prominently covering the unsubstantiated and motivated statement of the sentenced youth, the media concerned did not verify the facts from the High Commission and chose to overlook the statement of the youth. His subsequent rejoinder that he was not ‘tortured’ in India has not been carried by the media, so far.”

In a rejoinder statement forwarded by the High Commission, Rufwaan expresses “deep regret” that in an article on Sun Online, “using the word ‘tortured’ is a misrepresentation made in translation of the original statement I made on January 26, speaking to the media at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), upon arrival from India.”

Rufwaan said he had been asked by reporters as to whether he was beaten in custody, to which he “regretfully responded, “It is a jail after all, and we will get beaten. Yes I was beaten. The rules of the officers there is that, once jailed we have to beg for mercy at their feet. I refused to do that, which is why I got the beating.”

However, Rufwaan stated, “Using the word ‘torture’ insinuates that I was exposed to extreme violent treatment which was not the case. It is also the ‘cultural’ language barrier that the Dhivehi language consists of limited vocabulary which when translated to English, can fit to a variety of synonyms.

“Also, the lack of literary expertise in linguistics of the journalists can often provide misleading information and I believe this could have caused this mistake. The concerned media has taken it very lightly and when requested to correct it, responded as ‘I’ll give it a thought’,” he added.

“Hence I kindly apologise to all concerned authorities for the unfortunate choice of word used in the article, which in my understanding, creates a far more negative and graphic image of how I intended to express,” he said, expressing “profound appreciation” for the High Commission’s “constant support and assistance” throughout his detention.

Editor of Sun and head of the Maldives Journalists Association, Ahmed ‘Hiriga’ Zahir, told Minivan News that the specific word Rufwaan had used, “aniyaa”, translated to “torture”, according to Sun’s audio recordings.

“We [later] received a call, not from him, but from somebody on his behalf,” said Hiriga, acknowledging that media had a responsibility to issue a clarification or correction if this was later required. “We will be making the correction. We do not want to create any problems.”

In a second example, the High Commission highlighted a report in a daily newspaper titled “India to stop export of sand, rice to Maldives”.

“The report is grossly unsubstantiated and does not provide any credible source of its information. As far as the High Commission is aware, the government of India has taken no such decision to ban export of rice or river sand to Maldives. There is a local court injunction for the export of river sand from Tuticorin, though the importers are free to source it from any other region/state in India,” the Indian High Commission stated.

Sun Online carried a story today that the State Trading Organisation (STO) had decided to import aggregate from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka “following a temporary suspension of export of aggregate from India.”

“The Maldives has been importing aggregate from India under a special quota extended by the Indian government. The Indian Ministry of Commerce has notified Indian suppliers that the aggregate quota has been temporarily suspended from the 15th of January onwards,” Sun reported.

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Corrupt immigration practices, unregulated agencies fueling migrant worker abuse

Corrupt immigration practices and the use of unregulated employment agencies by private and state employers are limiting efforts to curb abuse of migrant workers and prevent illegal practices such as retaining staff passports, a Maldivian trade union has alleged.

The Tourism Employees Association of Maldives (TEAM) has claimed that while companies are not permitted to retain the passports of foreign workers, some hospitality operators – as well as unregulated third party agencies and government ministries – are still keeping employee travel documents without consent.

The comments were made as a source with knowledge of the current immigration system told Minivan News that the practice of retaining passports – a long-standing habit of Maldivian employers – was a key contributor to human trafficking in the country.

The source, who wished to remain anonymous, said despite improvements late last year among some state employers, the issue still needed significant work from government and private enterprise if it was to be resolved.

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 potential 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.

Immigration Controller Dr Mohamed Ali was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

In October last year, a senior Indian diplomatic official expressed concern over the ongoing practice of confiscating passports of migrant workers arriving to the country from across South Asia – likening the practice to slavery.

Tourism workers

With the tourism industry one of the largest employers in the Maldives, TEAM Secretary General Mauroof Zakir alleged that relevant authorities in the country were either not able, or unwilling, to address abuse of foreigners.

“The issue of abuse of migrant workers is not being addressed by concerned authorities very much. We have a corrupted Immigration Department that is not able to handle these issues,” he said.

According to Mauroof, the practice of resort operators keeping worker passports was a “complicated issue” due to the common practice of outsourcing the hiring of foreign staff to agencies. He contended that a number of resorts and hotel operators were either keeping passports of staff themselves, or doing so through third party employment agents.

“Passports are being kept, often for stupid reasons. While passports should not be kept by employees, I am sure companies are doing this anyway,” he said.

Mauroof claimed that even this week, TEAM had received complaints that one multi-national hotel operator in Maldives was insisting on retaining the passports of its foreign staff, in some cases against their wishes.

Mauroof also criticised the use of third party employment agencies in particular, alleging that by relying on unscrupulous labour suppliers, resorts risked inadvertently hiring illegal workers.

“One complaint we received involved a resort paying a group of migrant workers US$100 as a monthly basic salary,” he claimed, adding that this did not include service charge payments.

A common human rights abuse involved the housing of foreign staff in substandard conditions. In one example, a group of labourers from Bangladesh were not provided with a toilet in their accommodation, forcing them to use the facilities at nearby mosques.

According to Mauroof, although TEAM’s constitution did allow for foreign workers to become members, only a small number of migrant employees had so far joined the union.

TEAM said it was at present handling three cases relating to the treatment of foreign staff.

With a majority of the country’s tourism workforce made up of foreign staff, Mauroof expressed concern that a large number of immigrant workers could see their basic rights infringed by employers with no realistic chance of seeking legal redress.

Societal attitude

A source with knowledge of the Department of Immigration’s work over the last several years said that while employers, including government ministries, had stepped up efforts to cease retaining passports, it would take “some time” before the issue was resolved.

The source claimed that the practice of retaining passports had been part of the employment culture in the Maldives for a long time, and that changing wider societal attitudes was challenging.

“Withholding passports infringes the basic rights of workers. We are talking about someone’s identity here. Addressing the matter is also the first step in working to prevent human trafficking,” the source claimed. “[Retaining passports] has been part of the culture here for a long time – the Education Ministry and Tourism Ministry have all done this. Keeping passports has been practised since foreign experts began coming to the Maldives.”

The source told Minivan News that the Department of Immigration and Emigration has sent “numerous memos” against the practice of retaining passports, but alleged that certain agencies favoured keeping worker documentation to better manipulate them.

“This is a common practice seen all over the world. But it creates major problems. If a foreigner wishes to go to law enforcement agencies for assistance, they will be asked to identify themselves with a passport,” the source said.

Third party agencies appeared to want to keep the passports to be able to “manipulate” foreign workers for their own financial advantage, the source explained.

“I do not believe that people are aware [keeping passports] is such a bad thing. Big companies, government employers and resort companies are all known to have done it,” the source claimed. “There has been an improvement that we have seen since late 2012 towards stopping the retention of passports. We have talked with government ministries and tried to resolve the matter, however when passports are being kept for visa processing they are not always returned.  This is a big challenge for employees in the outer atolls.”

The same source stressed that while ministries were showing improvements in returning passports to foreign workers, it may take “some time” till the matter was addressed properly.

Minivan News understands at present that the Department of Immigration is temporarily unable to renew work visas for expatriates, and is instead providing a three month extension period to foreign workers as a stop-gap measure. The temporary measures were imposed as a result of ongoing disputes over the controversial implementation of a new border control system provided by Malaysia-based IT firm, Nexbis.

Sources within the immigration department warned Minivan News that the country could have to resort to a “a pen and paper system” for monitoring immigration if the country’s courts approve a parliament vote to scrap the Nexbis deal, without providing an adequate replacement.

Resort challenges

Several resort operators in the Maldives, speaking on condition of anonymity, said while they did not use employment agencies themselves, the level of bureaucracy faced in hiring staff – especially for properties far from Male’ – did sometimes require third party assistance.

The general manager of one resort told Minivan News that the property had its own HR department to obtain documentation for its foreign employees, rather than relying on a third party.

“We do all the application processes ourselves and we have staff passports here in a fire-proof safe,” he claimed. “Staff can have these documents back whenever they request them.  If they do not want to be here, they are welcome to leave.”

Despite having opted against the use of employment agencies, the general manager added that, particularly for resorts in the country’s outer atolls where travel to the capital was difficult, some hospitality operators had little choice but to turn to employment agencies.

“In their defence, the state uses such a bureaucratic system that the government plays a part in these problems,” he claimed. “They have to simplify the [visa application] process. I would say some 70 percent of the rules they have are a joke.”

Another multi-national resort operator with properties across the Maldives confirmed that it did make use of some employment agencies, but favoured sourcing staff either internally from other operations, or from local islands. A source from the resort stressed that in the two years they had worked at the property, they had received no complaints concerning employment agencies they had used to bring in foreign workers.

Blue Ribbon Campaign

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier this month inaugurated an initiative targeted at raising awareness of the human trafficking issue in the Maldives.

Entitled ‘Blue Ribbon Campaign Against Human Trafficking’, the strategy is expected to include activities to try and raise awareness among students and the business community.

The Foreign Ministry announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with multiple local media outlets in the country as part of the campaign’s aim to raising awareness of human trafficking and other related issues.

The Maldives has come under strong criticism internationally in recent years for the prevalence of people trafficking, and the  country has appeared on the US State Department’s Tier Two Watch List for Human Trafficking for three years in a row.

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Court delays Afrasheem murder trial after suspect unable to afford lawyer

The Criminal Court has delayed the second hearing into the trial of Hussain Human, who is accused of murdering MP Dr Afrasheem Ali for the sum of MVR 4 million (US$260,000).

The Criminal Court told the media that the hearing was cancelled as Humam was unable to afford a lawyer.

Spokesperson for the Criminal Court Mohamed Manik told Minivan News that the defendant has asked the state to appoint a lawyer for him.

Maldivian law obliges the state to appoint lawyers for those who can’t afford one when dealing with murder cases.

Manik said the court has not yet decided a date to schedule the next hearing.

‘’A date will be decided after discussion with police and the Prosecutor General’s Office,’’ he added.

During the last hearing the state attorney read out charges against Humam, who pleaded not guilty and requested the court to grant him the opportunity to appoint a lawyer for his defence.

The presiding judge then asked Humam how soon he could appoint a lawyer. Humam replied that he would have to speak to his family. He was given one week and the second hearing was scheduled for Thursday.

Attorneys representing the state told the Criminal Court that on October 1, 2012, Humam and a group of people attacked and murdered Dr Afrasheem Ali.

Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz has previously alleged that the murder of the MP for Ungoofaaru constituency was a well-planned murder worth MVR 4 million.

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Italian tourist dies in propeller accident while snorkeling

A 51 year-old Italian tourist died in a boat propeller accident while snorkeling on Thursday afternoon (January 31) near Elaa Island in Thaa Atoll.

Minivan News spoke to Veymandoo Regional Hospital Manager Abdulla Mauroof about the incident, who confirmed that the woman was pronounced dead on arrival.

According to Mauroof, the woman suffered a “major injury to her skull”.

“Her body is still being held under police charge at the hospital and a police forensics team has been dispatched,” Mauroof added.

The snorkeling accident was reported at 14:50. The dive boat operator has not been confirmed at this time.

Veymandoo police are currently investigating the incident.

Snorkeling deaths

During 2012, tourist deaths – usually while snorkelling – were disproportionately higher among Chinese tourists, who now account for a majority of Maldives tourist arrivals compared to the country’s traditional European markets.

In October 2012, a 26 year-old male from China staying at Alif Dhaal Atoll Vakafaru resort was suspected to have died in a snorkelling accident at the property.

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