Republic of Maldives Country Report
October 2023
The Maldives is an island archipelago located in the Indian Ocean, 750 kilometres from India. With a population of 521,000, it is the smallest country in Asia. It became a British protectorate in 1887. It gained independence in 1965. Its first President, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom ruled for 30 years. An attempted coup d'état in 1988 was crushed by the Indian military, The Maldives was devastated by a tsunami in 2004.
A new constitution with democratic reforms was adopted in 2008. Despite the introduction of more freedoms for citizens, the United Nations reports that the Maldives today has high risks of political instability and insecurity. Islamist terrorists affiliated with ISIS pose threats to democracy and social tolerance.
Islam is the state religion. The Maldives has no religious freedom. The country is 100% Sunni Muslim. Individuals of other religions cannot gain citizenship. Members of other faiths cannot practice their religion openly and cannot marry a Maldivian. They are barred from holding positions in state and private institutions such as the Human Rights Commission. Practising yoga is prohibited. Persons who bring non-Islamic religious items into the nation may be arrested. Practising non-Islamic religion is punishable by imprisonment and hefty fines. Apostasy from Islam may be punishable by death and the loss of citizenship. The Maldives rejects all U.N. Human Rights Council recommendations to adopt freedom of religion.
The US Treasury department published a list of 20 leaders and financiers linked to Islamist extremist groups in the Maldives. The Maldives is unwilling to investigate any extremist groups and political leaders linked to killings and other crimes. Islamist groups pose threats to politicians, activists, and LGBTQ+ people.
According to Global Risk Insights, an extremism monitoring group, following the 2004 Sri Lankan tsunami, Saudi Salafist NGOs came to the Maldives on the pretext of helping to rebuild destroyed areas. Members of these Salafist NGOs convinced poor Maldivian men that the tsunami was a punishment for failing to follow the true teachings of Islam. Radical Islamist ideology infiltrated the islands. The Maldives had the highest per capita number of foreign fighters for ISIS of any nation. In 2022 an ISIS cell bombed the home of former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed. The Maldives has no education program to combat jihadist ideologies in schools, the military, or prisons.
In the elections of September 2023, opposition candidate Mohamed Muizzu won 54% of the vote, defeating the incumbent, Ibrahim Solih. Miuzzu, campaigned on the slogan ‘’India-out.’’ Anti-India disinformation on social media was rampant during his campaign. He accused Solih of not protecting Islam.
A third of the Maldives' population are migrant workers of Indian descent. They are barred from Maldivian citizenship. They have no political rights. They have no right to protest discrimination against them. If they join activist efforts, they are arrested. Indian migrants are subjected to multiple human rights abuses, including lack of access to health care and reasonable living conditions.
Maldivian laws regulate freedom of expression and association. Human rights defenders are arrested. Protests and strikes are blocked entirely. There is no press freedom. Journalists face harassment, intimidation and attacks, especially when they report on political events. Dr. Muizzu’s affiliation with imprisoned pro-China former-president Yameen has caused fear that more restrictions on political gatherings and privacy will be imposed.
Genocide Watch considers The Maldives to be at Stage 1: Classification, Stage 3: Discrimination and Stage 6: Polarization in the Ten Stages of Genocide.
Genocide Watch recommends:
The Constitution should be amended to include a Bill of Rights, including freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion, with judicial review to strike down laws that violate these freedoms.
Education against extremism should be included in curricula of schools, the military, and prisons.
The Maldives should ratify International Labor Organization conventions C97 and C143 and other international conventions to protect the rights of migrant workers and their families.