.svg)
The United States State Department has kept the Maldives on the Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year in its 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report, citing a lack of prosecutions and investigations.
News Desk
Expats in Maldives --
MALE : The United States State Department has retained the Maldives on the Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year in its newly released 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report, pointing to insufficient enforcement efforts and a lack of recent prosecutions.
According to the report, the Maldivian government did not fully meet the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking and failed to demonstrate overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period. The Maldives avoided a mandatory downgrade to Tier 3 under a statutory waiver because authorities allocated resources to a written plan aimed at fulfilling anti-trafficking standards.
While the report acknowledged positive steps, such as the launch of a migrant worker resource center and a new grievance portal in partnership with an international organization, alongside updated training models for incoming police officers, it highlighted major gaps in law enforcement.
The government did not initiate any new human trafficking investigations for the second consecutive year, nor did it prosecute or convict any traffickers for the third straight year.
Official complicity, inadequate victim screening, and the continued absence of a dedicated state-run shelter for trafficking victims were also cited as challenges hindering protection efforts.
