Maldives sets deadline for employers to register foreign workers’ biometric data

The Maldivian Ministry of Homeland Security has set a deadline for employers to update the biometric data of foreign nationals working in the capital city and beyond.

Employers in the greater Male region will have until March 15 to register their expatriate employees. The directive applies to workers in Male City, Hulhumale, Vilimale, K. Thilafushi and K. Gulhifalhu.

Failure to meet the deadline will lead to suspension from the Xpat system, which manages foreign workers in the country. The directive forms part of Operation Kurangi, which launched last May, and is a nationwide program to collect migrant workers’ biometric data. The biometric data of more than 25,000 migrant workers have been collected so far.

A center for the initiative has been created and can be found at the National Center for Information Technology (NCIT), which runs from 9am to 10pm daily except Fridays, where employers and workers can register biometric data.

Those found working illegally will be expelled from the country. Five foreigners have been taken into custody, reports a local publication, who were found working in coffee shops by Maldives Immigration. Operation Kurangi was conceived as a measure to regulate foreign labor in the Maldives.

Setting framework for ‘revolutionary digital transformation’

The Maldives government will establish a framework for digital transformation. This comes as The Cabinet seeks to strengthen the government’s technology governance to “enhance” the ICT sector and accelerate the country’s digital transformation journey and to maximize the benefits of the digital economy.

To this end, discussions were had around introducing modern legislation and completing the necessary regulatory framework to expedite national digital transformation projects. Talks were also held to create an “Interoperable Open Data Sharing Platform” to facilitate seamless data exchange between government agencies among other proposed initiatives.

These initiatives include establishing a National Sovereign Cloud to securely manage government data; implementing e-Faas – a secure electronic identification system – and digital signatures; establishing an Innovation Hub, and implementing a “local first” policy that prioritises Maldivians in procuring ICT and other technology services for government requirements.

Maldives president Dr. Mohamed Muizzu recently visited Estonia following an invitation from his Estonian counterpart, Dr Alar Karis, to discuss ways to strengthen digital capacities. Estonia’s Digital Advisory Committee expressed interest in assisting Maldives’ digitization, according to The Edition.

Article Topics

biometric enrollment  |  biometrics  |  digital government  |  digital identity  |  identity management  |  Maldives