Ministry of Homeland Security has begun an operation to collect fingerprint and photographs of all migrant workers in Maldives in order to address the issue of illegal migrant workers in the country.

Minister Ali Ihsan formally launched the 'Kurangi' operation at a ceremony held in K. Himmafushi today.

Speaking on the occasion, Ihsan said that police and immigration have been tasked to work together with the Ministry to address the issue of illegal immigrants in the Maldives under the direct instruction of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.

"The entire operation is expected to be completed in a total of three years. We are looking forward to completing the first part in a year's time," Ihsan said.

He said that in the first year, it was decided to bring illegal migrants into the Ministry's systems, as part of the drive launched today to collect biometric data along with fingerprints and photographs of the migrants and collect their information to the central system of the ministry.

Ihsaan said that by the time the project is completed, the details of all expatriates in the country will be available from the Ministry's database.