No work permit for Indians in Maldives continues

In what seems to be a deja vu, another Maldivian hotel has shut doors to Indians to get employment in the country. The Hulhule Island Hotel, located near the busy Malé International Airport has come with openings but said: "Due to visa restrictions — Maldivian, Sri Lankan, Nepalese, Thai, Filipino, Indonesians may apply only."

The advertisement by the hotel finds no mentions of Indians. WION had reached out to the hotel for a response but not got any before this copy went to the print.

WION spoke to two Indians impacted by work permit ban but they did not wish to disclose identity. Sounding hopeless, one person said, "I almost waited more than 5 months and nothing has changed. So many people lost their job some of them resigned from their previous job because they got an offer from the Maldives. Now they lost everything even the balance of their family".

Another one added, "HR asking me to wait. So as per my HR, we can still wait for 2-3 months. Let's see if the situation will change. But if it does not resolve, we will lose our jobs."

Earlier this year, Alexander Blair - General Manager of 'The St Regis' on his LinkedIn profile while advertising for a vacancy in his hotel said, "unfortunately with the current situation that work permits are not being granted to Indian nationals, we are ideally searching for an Indian who is holding another passport or is the spouse of a Maldivian."

WION was the first Indian Channel to raise the issue back then.

The Indian mission in the Maldives is trying its level best and is aware of difficulties faced by Indian nationals in getting Maldives visa. It has even taken up the matter several times with foreign ministry of Maldives and Maldives Department of Immigration. The Ministry of External Affairs has also raised the matter with Maldives Embassy in New Delhi.

Though the grant or denial of visa is the discretion and sovereign authority of every country many would say the recent downward spiral in the ties between the two countries is the main reason of the work permit ban.

The former President of Maldives Mohamed Nasheed in an interview to WION, when the work permit ban came to light said, "it will have negative implications for the Maldives especially the tourism industry."

He also asked India to step in so that the Maldives can have free and fair elections on 23rd September.