Home Minister Ali Ihusan has said that agencies will be set up to strengthen and regulate the system for bringing foreign workers into the Maldives.

Speaking on PSM’s Raajje Miadhu programme, the minister said more than 140 recruitment agencies were registered until 2008. However, he noted that their role was significantly restricted until 2012, after which employers began directly facilitating the recruitment of expatriate workers.

He said this shift allowed opportunities for exploitation within the system, with intermediaries emerging between employers and foreign workers.

“According to information, they charge between USD 3,000 and USD 15,000 [to bring a foreigner to the Maldives] and take commission and divide it among the people [working] in line,” he said.

He added that in many cases, individuals had been brought into the country through informal arrangements over the past 17 years, rather than through regulated agencies.

Under international standards, he said recruitment fees should be limited to around one month’s salary of the worker.

The minister said the government plans to reform the system by formally establishing recruitment agencies, auditing their operations and embedding revenue structures within the law.

As part of ongoing reforms, the government launched Operation Kurangi in May 2024 to collect biometric data from expatriates working in the country.

Phase one and two of the operation have been completed, and more than 191,723 expatriates have been fingerprinted and photographed, with the national database updated accordingly.

Minister Ihusan also said authorities are tracking more than 4,000 foreigners who have yet to complete biometric registration, adding that efforts are underway to locate and deport them.