A decision that could be emulated. The Islamic Republic of the Maldives announced on Tuesday, April 15, the ban on the entry of the Israelis on their soil on Tuesday, April 15 to express their “resolved solidarity” with the Gaza population, while the Israeli government has decided to unilaterally break the truce.
The parliamentarians of this tourist archipelago of the Indian Ocean approved a bill to this effect, immediately promulgated by President Mohamed Muizzu.
“This ratification reflects the determined position of the government in the face of repeated atrocities and the acts of genocide perpetrated by Israel for the Palestinian people”, said the presidency. “The Maldives reaffirm their solidarity resolved with the Palestinian cause”she added in a press release.
The ban on the stay of Israeli nationals, supported by the government as by the opposition, took effect immediately, a spokesperson for the presidency told AFP.
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Renowned for its white sandy beaches, its lagoons bathed in turquoise water and its coral reefs, the Maldives welcomed some 214,000 foreign tourists in February, including only 59 Israelis.
A previous ban on the stay of tourists of Israeli nationality had been lifted in the early 1990s and the authorities briefly returned to relations with Israel in 2010.
Last year, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs had recommended that its citizens avoid any stay in the Maldives.
