Tag: immigration

Maldives a mid-point for illegal immigration to Europe, money laundering: Immigration Controller

Controller of Immigration Mohamed Ali  on Monday expressed concern that the Maldives was being used as a mid-point for money laundering and illegal immigration to Europe.

Speaking at the Fifth Meeting of the SAARC Immigration Authorities, Ali said that while it was a rising concern that illegal immigrants were making their way to Europe via the Maldives, there was also the matter of African nationals attempting to enter the Maldives itself illegally.

Ali pointed out that people from African countries like Nigeria were entering the Maldives, which he said would lead to problems.

“Now for example, if people like those from Nigeria start entering the Maldives, you all know what sort of problems this can give rise to. That is because Nigerians don’t have much of a reputation when it comes to certain things,” the Controller said.

Stating there was a chance that Maldivians were involved in assisting the illegal immigration, Ali said this should therefore be a matter of huge concern for the country.

“We haven’t received any information about Al-Qaeda. Nevertheless, we have been getting other sorts of information,” Ali said.

“There is all sorts of organised crime coming in now from all sides. It isn’t just terrorism,” he said.

Ali went on to say that people on the Interpol watch-list had been intercepted attempting to enter the Maldives a number of times. A few of these persons have been found after entering the country.

He highlighted the importance of working more closely with Interpol and of strengthening the border control system in order to prevent such crimes from continuing.

Speaking to Minivan News today, Mohamed Ali further said that he hoped the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) would now consider the implications of money laundering happening in the country.

“What I meant to say is that there are risks of all these activities happening in the Maldives. Our intention is for MMA to plan and start taking action about the issue of money laundering,” Ali said.

The current border control system is operated by Nexbis, and is at present a contentious matter. The Anti-Corruption Commission has recently approached parliament’s Finance Committee about the issue.

The Maldives has meanwhile been on the US State Department’s tier 2 watch list for human trafficking for three years’ running.

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ACC approaches Finance Committee over Nexbis system

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has told Parliament’s Finance Committee that the deal with Malaysian mobile security provider Nexbis will cost the Maldives MVR 2.5 billion (US$162 million) in potential lost revenue over the lifetime of the contract.

The border control system is now up and running at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), after a Supreme Court ruling in early September favouring Nexbis ended almost two years of efforts by the ACC to block the project.

Under the ‘build operate and transfer’ (BOT) agreement with Nexbis, the government is obliged to pay Nexbis US$2 for every foreign passenger processed and US$15 for every work permit for the 20 year lifespan of the contract. Nexbis remains responsible for the upgrading, servicing and administration of the system.

Former Immigration Controller Abdulla Shahid has expressed concern over both the cost and necessity of the project, calculating that with continued growth in tourist numbers Nexbis would be earning US$200 million in revenue over the 20 year lifespan of the agreement.

At five percent, royalties to the government would come to US$10 million, Shahid said, when there was little reason for the government not be earning the revenue itself by operating a system given by a donor country.

“The option was there to establish the system for free,” stated ACC President Hassan Luthfee, revealing that the US government had offered a free system in 2009.

“Even the Indian government had offered to do it for free. On the other hand this could have been done for MVR2.3-2.5 million. So we can’t believe that this should be done at such a high cost,” Luthfee told the committee.

Other contentions raised by the ACC included a “questionable” project evaluation, which the commission alleged violated protocols of the National Planning Council.

“The National Planning Council’s protocols say that anything passed by the council cannot be changed by any other relevant institution unless it is sanctioned by the Council itself or the ministerial cabinet. But without following the said two protocols, Immigration made major changes to the proposal,” ACC’s investigation officer Mohamed Sodig was reported as saying in local media.

Evaluations and bid criteria had been unclear, the ACC alleged, further claiming that the validity of the Nexbis bid had been 90 days which had expired at the time the price bids were opened.

“We tried to determine whether the validity of the proposal or bid of Nexbis had been extended. However, we failed to find a single document that had done so, and marks had been given for Nexbis’ price bid,” Sodig was reported as stating.

The commission also claimed that minutes for one government meeting to discuss the project had taken place during prayer time on Friday October 15, 2010, which the commission claimed was “highly suspicious in a 100 percent Muslim country”.

The ACC also contended that the charging of a fee for passengers and foreign workers constituted a tax and was in violation of Article 97 of the constitution, requiring parliamentary approval for new or altered taxation. In an apparent precedent, a similar ruling from the Civil Court in late 2011 overruled airport developer GMR’s ability to levy an Airport Development Charge (ADC), despite this being stipulated in the developer’s concession agreement with the government.

The Supreme Court has meanwhile cleared the way for the border control project, invalidating an earlier injunction from the High Court.

The move prompted complaints from the ACC, which expressed concern and frustration over the decision stating that it has put the commission in a state of limbo and deprived it of purpose.

“If this institution is simply an investigative body, then there is no purpose for our presence,” he said. “Even the police investigate cases, don’t they? So it is more cost effective for this state to have only the police to investigate cases instead of the ACC,” Luthfee said at the time.

Outside the dispute over its legality, with the project now running the collection of biometric data by immigration allows the government to identify people without paper documents – useful in a country where a third the population are imported workers, and where the confiscation of passports by employers is common practice.

The reaction from tourists to the new system has however been mixed.

“The immigration process now takes a lot of time to complete because they must now take fingerprints and pictures of people entering the country,” observed a German visitor.

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Supreme Court ruling on Nexbis “doesn’t make sense”: Immigration controller

The case concerning the Nexbis border control system has grown increasingly complex this week after the Supreme Court deemed that the High Court bench which had ordered work on the project to be stopped had been unlawfully reconstituted, thereby nullifying its decision.

Reports in the local media say that the recently appointed Immigration Controller Mohamed Ali intends to seek his own legal guidance on the Supreme Court’s decision, claiming that he can make no sense of the decision.

“We don’t have a lawyer. I’m not a lawyer either. I can’t make any sense of it. Hence I’m trying to make sense of the Supreme Court’s order,” Ali told Haveeru.

The nullified decision relates to the High Court’s order to halt any further work being completed on the project whilst the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) appealed a ruling from the Civil Court that it could not order the termination of the project.

Local media have referred to the Supreme Court’s order as a ‘Mandamus’. Often termed a ‘writ of mandate’, this kind of order instructs a governmental body to perform an act required by law when it has neglected or refused to do so.

Meanwhile, Haveeru has reported that the ACC intends to investigate the relationship between Cheif Judge Ahmed Shareef and officials from the Nexbis company, after receiving a letter alleging a meeting in Bangkok.

Shareef was dismissed from the bench during aforementioned reconstitution deemed illegal by the Supreme Court.

The Immigration Controller told Haveeru that the project cannot move forward until legal experts have reviewed the latest decision by the Supreme Court.

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Nexbis project one third completed despite ACC’s legal effort

Despite the legal complications surrounding the deal, the Nexbis border control project has completed its first phase, with Rf10 million’s (US$650,000) worth of installation work having been finished, according to Sun Online.

The project involves the installation of an electronic border gate system in Male’s Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), bringing technological upgrades such as facial recognition, fingerprint identification and e-gates to the Maldives.

Assistant Controllerof the Department of Immigration and Emigration Ibrahim Ashraf confirmed to Minivan News that “the first phase is, to a certain extent, finished.”

The Rf500 million (US$39 million) deal had been brought to standstill by the High Court earlier this month in the latest in a series of delays which have led the Malaysian firm to threaten legal action against the Maldivian government should it incur losses for the work already done on the project.

Sun reported a source as saying that there were three phases in the contract with Nexbis. The second phase involves the installation of further systems for an online visa service while the third phase would include improving passport mechanism services.

The deal ran into trouble soon after it was awarded in 2010, with the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) demanding the project be terminated and re-tendered, citing allegations of corruption in the bidding process.

Legal suit was filed in November 2011 after the government decided to begin work on the project against the ACC’s advice. The subsequent decision by the Civil Court was that the ACC did not have the authority to order the Department of Immigration and Emigration to stop the project.

Subsequent appeals to the High Court earlier this month resulted in an injunction against any further work until the case had been resolved. At the time, the ACC had expressed concern that the project could be completed before the conclusion of the High Court case.

Ashraf said that staff training for the new system was planned for May 10 but had been cancelled due to the injunction.

Hassan Luthfee, President of the ACC, said that the commission had not investigated into the work’s current progress but believed the work on the first phase had been completed prior to the High Court injunction, as did Ashraf. Luthfee said the ACC had appealed to the court to “delineate” the role of the ACC and expected a verdict by the end of this month.

According to the Anti-Corruption Act (Act No. 13/2008) under which the ACC was established, following any inquiry and investigation the commission is empowered to forward the case to the Prosecutor General for prosecution. It is also granted the power to order the institution in question to correct any failures in management that may have led to corrupt practices.

Part of the roles and responsibilities of the ACC, as defined in the constitution, is “to perform any additional duties or functions specifically provided by law for the prevention of corruption.” The ACC’s objections to the Nexbis deal were based on its belief that the bidding process was flawed.

A source at the immigration department at the time of the ACC’s initial complaint in 2010 claimed that it was the finance ministry which evaluated all the bids. The same source also argued that the desire within the ACC to stop the project could have been politically motivated.

The ACC filed a suit against the Home Ministry in January, citing “unlawful practices” in the tender process while evaluating bids to set up partitions in the ministry’s office.

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Expatriate workers’ plights in Maldives: The Daily Star

“An uncertain fate” awaits Bangladeshi nationals coming to work in the Maldives due to a network of illegal manpower agencies operating in the two countries, Bangladesh-based The Daily Star newspaper writes.

Our migrant workers face numerous ordeals having landed in the destination countries, especially those in the Middle Eastern region, due to illegal manpower agencies.

One would naturally have expected a better situation for them in the South Asian region what with strong diplomatic ties between the SAARC countries. But contrary to our expectation, an uncertain fate awaits them even in a country such as the Maldives.

A news item carried in a leading Bangla daily tells us nearly 50 thousand Bangladeshi workers are staying miserably as illegal immigrants in the Maldives as a result of collusive practices between unauthorized manpower agencies of the two countries.

Fraudulent manpower agencies operating in the Maldives join hands with those of the unauthorised Bangladeshi agencies and procure fake work permits and promise jobs to the workers based on spurious documents.

The workers, having spent more than two lakh taka each, finally fly to the Maldives only to find out that the company which is supposed to have recruited them does not exist at all. With no legal work permit whatsoever, they become illegal immigrants and face immense discrimination at the hands of their temporary employers and constant fear of detention by the police.

Bangladeshi mission in the Maldives has revealed that it attested the work permits of only 58 workers in 2010 whereas thousands of workers went there in that year alone. It proves the unthinkable extent to which illegal workers migrate there every year.

Read more

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High Court issues injunction halting Nexbis project pending outcome of ACC appeal

The High court has issued an injunction temporarily halting the roll out of the Nexbis border control system, pending the outcome of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC’s) appeal against a Civil Court ruling that the ACC did not have the authority to halt the project.

The ACC in a hearing last week had requested an injunction, however Judge Azmirelda Zahir stated that such a decision could only be taken after both sides had presented their cases. The ACC had expressed concern that the project could be completed before the conclusion of the High Court case.

Immigration Controller Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim said he would not comment on the matter and referred Minivan News to Deputy Contoller Ibrahim Ashraf, who was not responding at time of press.

The case was delayed last week after the High Court ruled that Deputy Solicitor General Ahmed Usham could not represent the state in the case, as he had been a member of the tender evaluation board that had awarded the contract to Nexbis.

The case concerns a 20-year Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement with the Malaysia-based mobile security solutions provider to upgrade border security in the Maldives with new technology including facial recognition and fingerprint identification, facilitating the identification and tracking of expatriate workers and eliminating the opportunity for people to enter the country with forged paper documents.

The ACC had earlier ordered a halt to the project following the signing of the contract in October 2010, announcing that it had received “a serious complaint” regarding “technical details” of the bid, and that the agreement presented “instances and opportunities” for corruption.

In December 2011, the Commission forwarded corruption cases against former – and now reappointed –  Controller Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim, and Director General of the Finance Ministry, Saamee Ageel, to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG), alleging that the pair had abused their authority for undue financial gain in granting the contract to Nexbis.

On February 16 Illyas confirmed that the department would proceed with the border control project as there was no “legal obstruction”. He disputed the claims of corruption and insisted that the project was awarded to Nexbis through a transparent international bidding process.

The agreement stipulates that Nexbis will levy a fee of Rf30 (US$2) from arriving and departing passengers in exchange for installing, maintaining and upgrading its immigration system. The company would also charge a Rf231 (US$15) for every work permit card.

Former Immigration Controller Abdulla Shahid has contended that this would deprive the Maldives of US$200 million in revenue over the life of the 20 year contract. Comparing Nexbis’ earnings to the government’s estimated revenue of US$10 million, Shahid proposed the government instead maximize its income by operating a system given by a donor country: “Border control is not something we are unable to comprehend,” he suggested.

Minivan News reported on February 16 that Nexbis had filed a case in the Civil Court seeking Rf 669 million (US$43 million) in damages from Shahid, alleging that its reputation had been tarnished by negative media coverage.

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Immigration Department reminds foreigners not to interfere in politics

Assistant Controller of the Immigration Department Ibrahim Ashraf has reiterated the strict penalties for foreign nationals who engage in political protests whilst in the Maldives.

Police have begun an investigation, in conjunction with the immigration department, into suggestions that foreigners were involved in the protest that accompanied the opening of the Majlis on March 19. Minivan News was unable to contact the police for a comment on this investigation at the time of press.

Ashraf revealed that one of the suspects had already departed the country of his own accord.

Whilst being unaware of any specific instances of foreign involvement in the protests mentioned, MDP spokesman Hamid Abdul Ghafoor reaffirmed his party’s commitment to encompassing what he regards as global discontent into peaceful protests.

“We will be encouraging [foreign] participation. Out protests will go beyond borders. We are part of a global village and we have been violated. We will invite NGOs [to protest] and even tourists,” said Ghafoor.

“We want their voice with our cause. Peaceful protesters need to find a mechanism to lend their voice,” he continued.

Ashraf drew attention to the stipulations clearly detailed on the Immigration Department’s website which mentions the potential for immediate removal if foreigners are, “found participating in any unlawful activity or even the intention to participate or initiate an unlawful activity.” It also mentions penalties for those “suspected of disrupting the religious or political harmony.”

“Any foreigner on any sort of visa is not permitted to engage in political activity,” said Ashraf, “this is common for every country.”

Regarding the “strict” measures referred to in other media reports, the Assistant Controller said that this can involve permanent deportation or simply removal without deportation, depending on the gravity of the offence.

When asked to respond to these legal issues regarding the participation of foreigners in politics, Ghafoor responded “we might have to reconsider these restrictive laws.”

German national Patrick Crilly was taken into police custody earlier this month after photographing the police attempting to disperse a protest outside the Bank of Maldives (BML) using high-powered hoses.

He later explained that his detention was supposedly on the grounds of refusing to obey a police order, although he denies being given one. Crilly, a medical intern on a visa run from Sri Lanka, was detained for two and a half hours before being released without charge. The police denied that he had been officially arrested.

In 2006, an individual identifying himself as Michael Lord-Castle and four associates were deported from the Maldives for life after suspected involvement in political activity.

His controversial security-cum-fraud-investigation group, Global Protection Committee (GPC), was spotted on the streets of Male’ during the build up to the Maldivian Democratic Party’s planned assembly for constitutional change.

Lord-Castle originally signed a statement saying he had been invited by the MDP, a fact he later denied.

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Visa and work quota functions of human resource ministry reassigned to immigration

The Cabinet has decided to reassign certain functions currently in the mandate of the Ministry of Human Resources, Youth and Sports (MHRYS) to more relevant offices, the President Office has revealed.

According to the president office website,  the cabinet took this decision during  Tuesday’s cabinet meeting “‘because those functions of the MHRYS overlap with the mandate of other offices.”

When these changes come into effect, issuing of quota and work permits and related work will be done by the Department of Immigration and Emigration while issuing of licence for employment agencies, making regulations to facilitate employment agencies and other related work will be carried out by the Ministry of Economic Development.

Maintaining statistical records and research on job market and publishing information the job market will also be done by the Economic Development, president office said.

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Nexbis sues Shahid, while reappointed former controller decides to continue Nexbis agreement

Department of Immigration and Emigration has decided to proceed with the stalled border control system contracted to Malaysia’s Nexbis Limited. Meanwhile, Nexbis has filed a lawsuit at the Civil Court seeking Rf 669 million (US$43 million) in damages from the former Immigration Controller Abdulla Shahid.

The first hearing of the case, scheduled for Wednesday, was cancelled.

According to the lawsuit, Nexbis alleged Shahid refused to proceed with the project despite court approval and spread false information regarding the agreement to the media, tarnishing Nexbis’ global reputation.

Nexbis claims that misleading media coverage adversely affected its global operations – the company suffered a drop in share prices when the Maldives Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) raised concerns of corruption, costing Nexbix AUD$39.9 million (Rf669 million).

Nexbis has now requested the court to recover the damages and the cost of its lawsuit from Shahid.

Speaking to Minivan News, Shahid refused to be held personally accountable to any decisions of the Immigration Department.

“I don’t have to take personal responsibility. When I was at Immigration I did hear about the case and had requested it to be forwarded to the Attorney General’s Office,” Shahid observed.

The 20-year Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement to upgrade the Maldives’ border control security system, valuing US$39 million (Rf600 million), was signed with Nexbis by Shahid’s predecessor, Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim – who was reappointed to the post last week by President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, following the ousting of former president Mohamed Nasheed on February 7.

The day after the concessionaire contract was signed, ACC announced it had received “a serious complaint” regarding “technical details” of the bid, and issued an injunction pending an investigation into the agreement citing “instances and opportunities” where corruption may have occurred.

Nexbis shares immediately plunged 6.3 percent on the back of the ACC’s announcement. The company subsequently issued a statement claiming that speculation over corruption was “politically motivated” and had “wrought irreparable damage to Nexbis’ reputation and brand name.”

“Nexbis’ shareholders own and manage multi-trillion dollar assets globally and will not jeopardise their reputation for an investment return,” the company said at the time.

Claiming financial loss Nexbis subsequently threatened legal action over the stalled border agreement, prompting the cabinet to resume the project after reviewing the existing agreement with Nexbis to address the concerns raised by the department.

In December 2011, the ACC forwarded a corruption case against Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim, then head of the Center for Disaster Management, and Director General of the Finance Ministry Saamee Ageel to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG). The ACC claimed the pair had abused their authority for undue financial gain in the Nexbis deal.

Meanwhile, the ACC requested the project be re-tendered with the consent of the cabinet. However, the cabinet decided to continue the project with Nexbis after revising the agreement.

ACC attempted gain a legal injunction against the move, but failed as the civil court ruled in January 2012 that ACC cannot order to terminate the Nexbis agreement.

Speaking to Minivan News today Immigration Controller Ibrahim confirmed that the department will continue the border control project as there is no “legal obstruction”.

“I have decided to continue all the works including the border control system project, as there is no legal obstruction,” Ilyas observed.

Ilyas had steadily disputed the claims of corruption and insisted that the project was awarded to Nexbis through a transparent international bidding process.

However, in earlier interviews with Minivan News, Shahid expressed concern over both the cost and necessity of the project, calculating that as tourist arrivals continue to grow Nexbis would earn US$200 million in revenue over the project’s 20-year lifespan.

Comparing Nexbis’ earnings to the government’s estimated revenue of US$10 million, Shahid suggested the government instead maximize its income by operating a system given by a donor country.

“Border control is not something we are unable to comprehend – it is a normal thing all over the world,” Shahid told Minivan News at the time. “There is no stated cost of the equipment Nexbis is installing – we don’t know how much it is costing to install, only how much we have to pay. We need to get everything out in the open.”

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