Day: November 16, 2010

New hi-tech passport lab at Male’ International Airport

Amidst ongoing changes scheduled over the next few years at Male’ International Airport, authorities at the travel hub have introduced a new Forensic Document Laboratory they hope can step up detection of fake passports and other illegal documentation used to enter the the country.

As part of plans to strengthen border controls to the country, a source at the immigration department confirmed to Minivan News that the laboratory was now in place at the airport, but could not give any specifics on when it came into operation.

However, citing Immigration Controller, Sheik Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim, Haveeru yesterday reported that the system has already helped lead to the arrest of four Iraqi nationals that had allegedly tried to enter the country under forged passports following its introduction earlier this month.

The Immigration Department was unavailable for comment at time of going to press.

The lab system, which has been set up in collaboration with Australian experts, was unveiled late last month by the Maldives’ Department of Immigration and Emigration as the first technology of its kind to be used in the Maldives.

Ibrahim said during this unveiling back in October the issue of immigration within the secluded atolls of the Maldives has vitally needed addressing in order to better combat potential trafficking and people smuggling.

The new laboratory is seen as an important new tool in reducing such illegal border activities and was backed by a special training three day training session at male’s Holiday Inn. According to an immigration department statement, the training was intended to bring Immigration officers within the country further in line with both local and international security standards. Adoption of the system comes amidst growing concerns about the country’s ability to handle border control as well as the prevention of human trafficking.

Back in August, Minivan News reported how the exploitation of foreign workers is potentially rivaling the country’s fishing sector as the second most prolific source of income after tourism.

The claims, which were based on conservative estimates of Bangladeshi workers turning up at their respective commission in Male’ upon being abandoned upon arrival at the country’s main airport, came from experienced diplomat, Professor Selina Mohsin.

Mohsin, formerly Bangladeshi High Commissioner to the Maldives before finishing her assignment in July, stated that about 40 nationals would turn up every day at the Commission without the work many had been promised by certain employment brokers and working with Maldivian partners.

Most of the stranded workers are thought to have been recruited in rural areas of Bangladesh by local brokers, who would work alongside a Maldivian counterpart.

“The Bangladeshi counterpart charges the worker a minimum of US$2000, but it goes up to $US4000. This money is collected by the counterpart and divided: typically three quarters to Maldivian broker and one quarter to the Bangladeshi counterpart,” Professor Mohsin explained, prior to her departure.

In its 2010 Human Trafficking report – published less than a month after the Maldives was given a seat on the UN Human Rights Council – the State Department estimated that half the Bangladeshis in the Maldives had arrived illegally “and most of these workers are probably victims of trafficking”.

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Maldives grappling with globalisation, says foreign policy expert

The Maldives is grappling with the positive and negative aspects of globalisation, says South Asia security expert Professor Stephen Cohen, formerly of the US Department of State and now senior fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Speaking to Minivan News during a recent visit to the Maldives, Professor Cohen suggested that the Maldives faced a unique set of challenges as a generally homogenous society, relative to the ethnic and religious diversity of neighbouring countries.

“This is a state [which is coping] with the negative and positive aspects of globalisation – one aspect was the decision to become a tourist resort destination in the 70s, but then [a negative aspect] in recent years is that this has established targets for attacks such as those in Bali or Mumbai,” he said.

“The state has to protect those targets, and the Maldives is not a state with giant capability. If there is an [extreme] Islamist element in the country, is there the intelligence capability to monitor them? Can they be put in jail? Can the government anticipate and break up a plot? We won’t know until it happens.”

In the absence of such evidence, Professor Cohen suggested, a balanced policy of appeasement “I think is the only viable strategy.”

“But you have to watch out for the Afghan model, where they played both sides against the middle but eventually lost control. The Nepalese played both sides, balancing India and Pakistan, Israel and the Palestinians, America and the Chinese, but lost sight of their own domestic political process.”

The Maldives, he suggested, could successfully avoid picking a side “as long as it remains an ‘out of the way’ place – they don’t have minerals or oil, so I think they’ll get away with it.”

Nonetheless, the country’s delicate economy and the import of radical Islam meant the nation had shades of Pakistan in the 1950s-1960s, “to the degree that Maldivians are now travelling to places like Pakistan for training,” Professor Cohen said.

A debate over whether an Islamic country such as the Maldives could reconcile itself with dependence on a liquor-selling tourism industry was part of a larger modernisation dialogue happening in countries like Turkey, he said. “Can Islam be tolerant, and how can it deal with extremists in its own ranks? Can you have a modern Muslim state, compatible with the rest of the world? They are finding ways of working around it.”

The Maldives had the foreign policy advantage of having few natural resources coveted by other states, Professor Cohen noted.

“Strategically the Maldives is the soft underbelly to Sri Lanka,” he said, before adding that the reason countries were interested in the small island nation was less to do with its location and more that they did not wish it to fall into the hands of anybody else.

“Everybody wants an independent Maldives – they want to be able to send tourists, and ships. The Maldives is lucky in that it has no disagreements over oil or fish, and while the tourist islands are a delicate asset, I think [the government] understands that.”

As an aside, Professor Cohen recalled his time at the US State Department and noted US involvement in tracking suspected players in the failed 1988 coup by mercenaries linked to the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE).

“It’s a little known fact,” he said. “A passing American vessel transiting in the area picked up the escaping ship and pointed [the pursuers] towards it. I had only just left the State Department but I heard about it. It was a pivotal moment in the country’s history, and its purpose was never quite clear.”

Now, Professer Cohen said, the Maldives is challenged with balancing relations between its larger neighbours and major tourist markets such as China.

“China practices a very skillful kind of low-profile diplomacy. They seem to be able to find what a country needs the most,” Professor Cohen observed. “I’ve seen it in Pakistan – Americans are hated in Pakistan, but the Chinese are beloved. And along come the requests for favours.”

It was difficult to measure the effect of such soft power, he said.

“All you are buying is a moment of hesitation in the mind of the policy maker, when they balance the pros and cons. That’s where the influence is, and that’s where you get your money’s worth.”

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Comment: How does Islamic Sharia go against human rights?

On the November 6, 2010, Minivan News published in its Comments and Opinion column an article titled “HRCM and Islamic Sharia,” written by supposedly feminist local writer, Aishath Aniya.

The article is mainly about Aniya’s objection to a suggestion by the HRCM President who said: “Human rights protection can be successfully achieved adhering to the principles of Islam.”

As such, Aniya has made two daring statements.

In the fourth paragraph, she writes: “For a moment, I could not understand what she [HRCM President] was trying to say. Her words suggested that HRCM – the highest authority to safeguard human rights in the country has joined the religious narrative that poses a clear threat to human rights, social justice and economic sustainability of the country.

And, in the fifth paragraph, she continues: “I am quite assured that if HRCM engages within the confines of Islamic Sharia, as it is understood now, we could be a long way from protecting and sustaining human rights in the Maldives.”

I read the article repeatedly. And what I noticed was that other than making a bold— and perhaps, emotional—statement, Aniya could not prove her point.

I also noticed that Aniya may have not done sufficient research. Because when I read the last sentence of the 14th paragraph, I was convinced that she apparently does not know the difference between Sunnah (saying and living habits of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and Ijthihad (the process of making a legal decision by independent interpretation of the legal sources, the Quran and the Sunnah).

I understand Aniya’s objection to the adherence of Islamic Shariah. But she has failed to explicitly say where and how Islamic Sharia actually goes against human rights, social justice and the economic sustainability of a modern society.

Aniya has extensively quoted Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im, Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law. But it was mainly about the origin of Islamic Sharia, its sources and the developments during the early days.

She has not discussed which Acts of Islamic Sharia are inconsistent with the norm of a modern society, and how.

The two primary sources of Islamic Sharia are the Quran and Sunnah, something Aniya also has acknowledged by quoting An-Na’im. Does she hold a view that the Quran and Prophet’s teaching goes against humanity?

If the objection is to the “traditional interpretation” of Quran and Sunnah— thereby calling for modern interpretation, then who is more appropriate for the task. Should we rely on the view of a single scholar or should we respect the consent of the majority of the scholars?

Aniya is certainly impressed with An-Na‘im work. John L. Esposito, Professor of Religion and International Affairs at Georgetown University has the following interesting comment on An-Na’im’s book, Islam and Secular State: “Although An-Na‘im wishes to present his views from within the Islamic tradition, he also states early on that his arguments are not exegetical in nature and therefore do not aim to interpret traditional Islamic sources such as Qur’an, hadith, tafsir, or legal theory (usul al-fiqh).”

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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Resort group Anantara plots major anniversary expansion

Anantara, which operates a number of high end resorts and spas across Asia and the Middle East, says it will expand its property portfolio by up to 60 percent next year by extending its presence in markets such as the Maldives.

With the company set to commemorate its first decade in business during 2011, the launch of the Anantara Kihavah Villas in Baa Atoll – scheduled to open in January – marks plans to try and further boost the number of properties in lucrative areas like the Indian Ocean.

“We’ve come a long way since our first resort opening in 2001,” said Peter Carmichael, Anantara’s Senior Vice President, in a statement. “As we move into our tenth anniversary year we will open seven stunning new resorts that will offer guests luxury and tranquility in surroundings that are culturally and environmentally uplifting.”

In the Maldives alone, the company already operates the neighbouring resort properties of Naladhu, Anantara Veli and Anantara Dhigu in the country’s South Male’ Atoll.

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Maldives’ sustainability adviser calls for global eco-reassessment

“I think the green movement needs to take a step back and reassess what it is trying to achieve and how,” Mark Lynas, an adviser to President Mohamed Nasheed on sustainable and environmental issues, has told the Ecologist publication.

In an interview for the ecological publication, Lynas, a British journalist and environmental activist, believes that amidst growing controversy in adopting so-called greener technologies, economies like the Maldives require an ‘engineer’ rather than a ‘propagandist’ to succeed.

Talking of his advisory role to President Nasheed, the journalist claims he aims to try and be practical, rather than idealistic, in pursuing green commitments to help the Maldives meet its ambitions to become carbon neutral by 2020.

“When I’m advising the president of the Maldives, I can’t really say to him ‘Our first job is to confront power and smash corporate control’,” Lynas tells the Ecologist. “I have to say to him, ‘OK, let’s look at getting this amount of solar power on these buildings, this amount of wind on the grid in the capital city, let’s work on this kind of building code for energy efficiency’.”

The full Ecologist interview can be read here.

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Six Senses Laamu to open in April 2011

The new Six Senses Laamu resort, by Six Senses Resorts & Spas, will open in the Maldives in April 2011 the company has announced.

Chairman and CEO of Six Senses Sonu Shivdasani was reported on HospitalityNet as saying the development of the project had been “challenging, [with] unavoidable delays frustrating to all. I believe though that it will all have been worthwhile, as Six Senses Laamu has all the ingredients to make it a hugely popular destination. With its remote (but accessible) location, its pristine reef, its yinyang surfing wave, its contemporary design features and focus on nightlife, it will set a new standard for Six Senses Resorts.”

Shivdasani attributed the delays to the resorts commitment to using only sustainable materials in its design and architecture, and the property’s isolation.

In addition to 97 villas, the resort will offer 10 beach front residences for purchase at U$2.5 million, fully staffed and managed by the resort part of a managed rental programme with a guaranteed five year five percent yield.

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Islamic Foundation slaughters goats for public Eid al-Adha feast

The Islamic Foundation of the Maldives has announced plans to slaughter a “considerable number” of goats to celebrate Eid al-Adha, in keeping with the sunnah of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

The sacrificial ceremony will be held around 8:30am at Maafannu Madharusaa following Eid prayers, the Foundation said in a press statement.

The slaughtering will be carried out by Sheikh Adam Naseem (BA), Sheikh Mohamed Moosa, Sheikh Ahmed Moosa, Sheikh Ahmed Maumoon, Sheikh Izzaddeen Adnan, al usthaaz Ahmed Nizam and many other dignitaries, the Foundation stated.

The Foundation invites all its members, their immediate families, special guests and all Muslim brothers and sisters to a feast prepared from the meat, tonight at 8:30pm.

Eid al-Adha is the latter of the two Eid festivals celebrated by Muslims annually on the 10 day of the Zulhijjah, the last month of the lunar Islamic calendar, the Foundation explained.

“The sacrifice commemorates the willingness of Abraham (AS) to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Ismail) as an act of obedience to the Command of Allah, before He intervened to provide Abraham with a ram to sacrifice instead.”

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