MATATO supports only banning Israeli govt officials from Maldives

Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) has also said that they only support banning Israeli government leaders and the country's soldiers from travelling to the Maldives, instead of issuing a blanket ban on all Israelis.

Speaking at the Parliament's 241 Committee about the Israeli passport ban amendment to the Immigration Act, MATATO's President Abdulla Giyas said that the association's members also support selective banning of the passport.

He said that Israel has boycotted Maldives as well and that they do not foresee many Israeli tourists travelling to the country in the future.

Noting that Israel is a small market for Sri Lanka, he said the biggest problem is the issue of people with dual passports. He noted that some Russians as well as many Palestinians hold Israeli passports.

Further highlighting that the Maldivian government has claimed that international financial institutions' reduction of the country's credit rating is because of the move to ban Israeli passports, Giyas said that Maldives may face backlash if a complete ban is implemented, given that powerful countries like USA are in support of Israel.

As such, he said that that the best way forward right now is to target the ban on Israeli government leaders, and that MATATO would be fully supportive of such a decision.

The Guest House Association of Maldives also took the same stance recently.

Banning the Israeli passport is a pledge of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, and a decision approved by his cabinet as well. The government has since requested the Parliament to formulate the necessary legislative amendments to implement the ban.

When the government sent in the request to the Parliament, minority opposition party Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)'s MP Meekail Naseem had already submitted an amendment to ban Israeli travellers from the country.

While the 241 committee is currently evaluating the bill after having the bill parked for a long time, the committee plans to seek the opinion of all local political parties, relevant government institutions and organisation in the tourism industry.

Supermajority ruling party People's National Congress (PNC) expects a decision to be made on the matter by February next year.