Maldives Immigration detained 27 expatriates living in the Maldives unlawfully last night during inspections targeting foreign workers employed across various cafes at the Malé Food Court.

In a social media post today, Immigration stated that its task force conducted a raid operation last night specifically focusing on the Food Court located in the Malé West Harbor area, which has been identified as a location where a high number of undocumented expatriates work.

The authority stated that 88 expatriates were questioned during the operation, and 27 foreigners living unlawfully were taken into Immigration custody. Almost all the cafes operating at the Food Court employ expatriates exclusively.

As part of the series of operations conducted by Immigration to locate expatriates staying unlawfully in the Maldives, 254 foreigners were taken into the authority's custody during last May as well.

Under the government's mass regularization program, expatriates employed in the Maldives who lacked work permits, individuals whose permits had expired, and foreign workers without official identification documents were given the opportunity to regularize their stay within legal frameworks.

Undocumented expatriates have been detained and a large number of individuals have also been deported.

The current administration launched "Operation Kurangi" in May 2024 to collect the biometrics of expatriates working in the Maldives. Through this operation, the 10-fingerprints and photographs of more than 191,723 expatriates have been taken, and the database has been updated.