MALE, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Maldives immigration department said on Thursday that over 60,000 illegal migrant workers were estimated to be living in the island country and it sought public assistance to nab them.
Maldives Immigration Chief Mohamed Ahmed Hussain said in a media briefing that a total of 144,607 expats had been brought into the country under a work visa in recent years, out of which 63,000 are now estimated to be undocumented.
According to Ahmed, hundreds of expat quotas had been issued to cafes and guesthouses while over 3,500 had been issued for projects.
He said the immigration department would now look to solve the expat issue by implementing a number of measures, including bringing legislation on deportation and illegal entry.
According to official statistics by the immigration department, 3,211 foreigners had been deported for visa violations last year while 531 had been sent back due to health issues.
