No new cases. No victims identified. Yet the Maldives has escaped a downgrade in the US State Department’s human trafficking rankings, staying on its watch list for a third straight year.
A waiver, granted on the strength of a written plan, spared it a drop to Tier 3. The country has been here before: plans bought the same reprieve in 2012, 2013 and 2020.
This year’s report flags official complicity. Three immigration officials named in a December bribery verdict “continue to perform their jobs while reportedly under investigation”.
Research by the Public Interest Law Centre suggests why so few cases are counted. It describes a system that only recognises the most extreme exploitation, leaving migrant workers in a “hierarchy of suffering”.
The waiver can only be used once. Unless the 2027 report lifts the Maldives to Tier 2, a downgrade is likely.
Read the full story: https://maldivesindependent.com/society/no-new-cases-no-victims-identified-but-maldives-escapes-human-trafficking-downgrade-8cf1

