24-hour helpline opens for Bangladeshis in Maldives after Malé murders

The Bangladesh mission in the Maldives has opened a 24-hour helpline for expatriates in the wake of murders of two Bangladeshis last week.

The Bangladeshi were killed for yet unknown reason.

Four more foreigners have been stabbed, but police could not arrest anyone in connection either with the murders or stabbings, according to local media.

The Bangladesh High Commission has taken the issue up with President Abdulla Yameen who ordered enhanced security for expatriate Bangladeshis.

The foreign ministry on Friday said the high commissioner opened the help line and Bangladeshis there have been asked to call [phone] for assistance.

The tiny Indian Ocean nation is heavily dependent on migrant workers.

More than 70 percent of its 111,000 expatriate workers are from Bangladesh, mostly engaged in the construction and service sectors.

But there have been concerns about the working conditions.

Local media described the pitiable living conditions of Bangladeshi workers while reporting the murders.

The online portal, CNM, quoting an anonymous Bangladeshi national, said, “Maldivians treat Bangladeshis inhumanely and, on top of that, attacks on foreigners have seen a sudden rise.”

The US State Department in its 2014 Trafficking in Persons report described the Maldives as a “destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking”.

The Maldives is also facing an unprecedented economic meltdown that has forced it to even shut many overseas missions, including in Bangladesh.

Shahin Mia was stabbed to death in a café last Sunday in capital Malé and ‘Bilal’ was found dead in the remote Toordhoo island the next day.

Local media said day before Shahin Mia’s death, a violent confrontation had taken place between Lhiyanu Café staff where they worked and a group of young men.

Workers there reportedly refused to serve free coffee and the group vandalised the café before leaving the place.