The Committee on National Security Services (241) has passed an amendment to the Immigration Act to prohibit entry into the Maldives with Israeli passports until Israel stops its attacks aimed at eliminating Palestinians. The proposal to amend the Immigration Act to ban individuals with Israeli passports from entering the Maldives was submitted by MDP member Mickail Ahmed Naseem, representing the Galolhu South constituency. The bill, submitted on May 29 last year, was accepted and sent to the Committee on National Security Services (241), where it has remained at the committee stage.
After a long period, at today’s committee meeting to work on the bill, numerous amendments were made before passing it. The most significant amendment was the removal of the provision that banned both individuals with Israeli passports and those from other countries who also hold Israeli passports from entering the Maldives. Instead, the ban now only applies to those who attempt to enter the Maldives using an Israeli passport. This change was made after Immigration informed the committee that it would not be possible to implement the ban otherwise.
With this change, individuals who have Israeli passports along with passports from other countries or those with dual citizenship will be able to enter the Maldives. The bill was passed unanimously by the committee, where the government PNC holds a majority, after these amendments. This passage of the bill with significant changes comes at a time when the opposition MDP and the public have been heavily criticizing the government for the delay in proceeding with this matter.
