The expatriates detained in the ongoing crackdown on illegal migration will receive a chance to get regularized, says the Maldives Immigration Service.

Illegal migration remains a longstanding issue in the Maldives.

The Immigration Service, in collaboration with the police, have recently been conducting a series of raids to catch illegal expatriates.

In an appearance on SSTV’s ‘Baaru Hathareh’ show, which aired on Thursday, Senior Immigration Officer Ismail Shareef said that not all expatriates detained in the raids will be deported.

He said that the program allows expatriates the chance to get regularized, adding that the Home Ministry’s ‘Operation Kurangi’ is a big part of this.

“This operation also allows this opportunity for employers who want to keep expatriate workers. Therefore, they will be allowed to return to work to the extent of this opportunity. We have always advised to properly manage expatriate workers by having them handed over to legitimate employers,” he said.

Shareef said that expatriate workers will be issued new work permits to work at legitimate workplaces “based on the opportunities available” through the regularization program the Immigration is running in collaboration with the police.

Immigration said earlier this week that over 1,800 expatriates detained in the current raids have been deported. 83 were detained in raids on local markets in Male’ City the previous weekend. According to the agency, those detained include expatriates without a valid visa, as well as those working in a place of work outside the scope of their permit, and those running their own businesses outside the scope of their permits.

The Home Ministry’s ‘Operation Kurangi’ has seen the collection of the biometrics of over 1,500 expatriates, since it was launched on May 2.

At a session of the ‘Ahaa’ public forum back in April, Home Minister Ali Ihusan said the issue of illegal migration will be resolved in three years.

He said that the collection of biometric data of expatriates was just phase one of the operation, and will wrap up within one year.

He said that once the data on all expatriates are collected and entered into a system, the government will then regularize all undocumented migrants.

Ihusan warned that those who fail to make use of the opportunity will be deported.

However, he stressed that the goal is not to arrest and deport expatriates, but to give them a chance to get regularized.

Source(s): sun.mv

Prosecutor General’s Office, on Friday, said they have begun requesting the vacation of fines to prison time for offenders who have not paid the fines imposed on them by courts for criminal offenses.

The new Penal Code allows lighter sentences for misdemeanors such as fines or community service.

PG Office, in a statement publicized on its website on Friday, said they have begun requesting lower courts to vacate the sentences of offenders who have not paid their fines to prison sentences based on information shared with the Office by the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA).

In this regard, PG Office said they can submit to vacate the sentence of offenders to prison time if they have not settled their fines within 30 days of notice from MIRA.

The Office stressed that sentences offenders who have not paid their fines will be vacated to prison sentences from hereon, as prison time is the principal punishment for a criminal offense.

It was noted that courts impose fines after ensuring the offenders have the means to pay the fine and henceforth, no excuse can be argued for not paying the fine.

While prison time is the principal punishment for criminal offenses, fines or other lighter sentences are imposed under extenuating circumstances.

PG Office underscored that the non-payment of such fines amounted to the offender going unpunished. With repeat of such cases, the Office accused some offenders of misusing the easements provided to them by the Penal Code.

Source(s): sun.mv

TEHRAN, June 6 (Xinhua) — Reformist candidate, former Health Minister Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday won the 14th presidential election in Iran, getting 16,384,402 of the total 30,573,931 votes in the runoff, Iran’s Election Headquarters Spokesperson Mohsen Eslami announced, adding the turnout in the second round stands at 49.8 percent.

The snap election was called after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province on May 19. According to Iranian law, a candidate needs to garner at least 50% plus one vote; thus, after no candidate achieved this in the first round on June 28, the election headed into a runoff between the top two candidates.

Pezeshkian, 69, is a heart surgeon-turned-politician who served as health minister in the 2000s and as the first deputy speaker of parliament from 2016 to 2020. Jalili, 58, was Tehran’s negotiator during nuclear talks with world powers. The candidates were approved by Iran’s Guardian Council, a panel of clerics and jurists that holds veto power over legislation passed by parliament and determines who can seek office in the Islamic Republic.

Source(s): Xinhua