Controller of Maldives Immigration Mohamed Ahmed Hussain on Tuesday declared that the two impersonators who recently attempted to enter Maldives using fraudulent passports of lookalikes were intercepted and apprehended due to the skill and professionalism of their employees.
While the two were apprehended within a 24-hour period of each other, Immigration did not disclose any details about their identities.
Immigration stated that the two have since been deported.
Controller Hussain revealed that over 100 individuals are deported every month over varying issues that prevent them from being granted visa entry into the country. He elaborated that these include such cases of individuals attempting to enter fraudulently using others' passports to conceal their identities.
However, he did not disclose any information on how many attempts were successful.
He commented that many persons have been deported over attempting identity fraud to enter the country, and that Immigration began to disclose details regarding such cases in order to inform the public.
"In my belief, intercepting and stopping such attempts is an advancement for us. Our employees are trained to halt such attempts. They have been trained by foreign professionals", said Hussain.
"There have been cases where perpetrators were intercepted while attempting to enter Maldives, after passing through various airports around the world without getting flagged".
Immigration also publicised the side-by-side images of the two impersonators and lookalikes' passport photos. The images were censored so as to protect their identities.
Following an Immigration crackdown to deport undocumented and illegal migrant workers, many have attempted to enter the country under identity fraud.
Certain individuals were successful in entering Maldives and subsequently hide or eradicate their passports and documentations.
Immigration has drastically enhanced its border security to curb such incidents.
Sign In