Bangladeshis in the Maldives

Last updated
Bangladeshis in Maldives
Total population
Est. 80,000 immigrants of Bengali origin
with one-third having no valid documents [1]
Regions with significant populations
Malé
Languages
English, Bengali, Dhivehi
Religion
Islam

Bangladeshis in the Maldives are a part of the Bangladeshi diaspora, consists people of Bangladeshi descent who have immigrated to or were born in another country. In most cases, first generation migrants may have moved abroad from Bangladesh for better living conditions, to escape poverty, or to send money back to families in Bangladesh. Till now, most Bangladeshis in the Maldives are first generation immigrants.

The 14th-century Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta identified Sultan Salahuddin Salih as a Bengali and credited him for the establishment of a new dynasty in the Maldives including his son Omar I and a granddaughter, Khadijah. [2] [3] Other records have also mentioned a granddaughter of Alauddin Husain Shah being a queen in the Maldives too. [4]

According to the Maldives Homeland Security and Technology ministry around 90,000 Bangladeshi are now (2024) working in the Maldives, a nation of only around 515,132 people , with currently most them have valid documents work permit This is a major portion among all the foreign workers in the Maldives.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Maldives</span>

The history of the Maldives is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent and the surrounding regions, comprising the areas of South Asia and Indian Ocean. The modern nation consists of 26 natural atolls, comprising 1194 islands. Historically, the Maldives has held a strategic importance due to its location on the major marine routes of the Indian Ocean. The Maldives's nearest neighbours are the British Indian Ocean Territory, Sri Lanka and India. The United Kingdom, Sri Lanka and some Indian kingdoms have had cultural and economic ties with the Maldives for centuries. In addition to these countries, Maldivians also traded with Aceh and many other kingdoms in what is today Indonesia and Malaysia. The Maldives provided the main source of cowrie shells, then used as a currency throughout Asia and parts of the East African coast. Most probably, Maldives were influenced by Kalingas of ancient India who were earliest sea traders to Sri Lanka and the Maldives from India, and who were responsible for the spread of Buddhism. Stashes of Chinese crockery found buried in various locations in the Maldives also show that there was direct or indirect trade contact between China and the Maldives. In 1411 and 1430, the Chinese admiral Zheng He (鄭和) visited the Maldives. The Chinese also became the first country to establish a diplomatic office in the Maldives, when the Chinese nationalist government based in Taipei opened an embassy in Malé in 1966. This office has since been replaced by the Embassy of the People's Republic of China.

References

  1. Ibraheem, Imon (9 February 2021), "Maldives to recruit workers from Bangladesh", Dhaka Tribune, retrieved 28 May 2021, The president of the Maldives has already declared that all the workers --- including foreigners, will get free vaccination in his country --- "We'll send some nurses to help carry out vaccination in the Maldives particularly for the large Bangladeshi community staying there," he said---Some 80,000 Bangladeshi expatriates are currently working in the Maldives.
  2. Ibn Battuta (1953). "The Maldive Islands (Dhibat-ul-Mahal)". In Husain, Syed Mahdi (ed.). The Rehla of Ibn Battuta. Baroda Oriental Institute. p. 204.
  3. Kalus, Ludvik; Claude, Guillot (2005). "Inscriptions islamiques en arabe de l'archipel des Maldives" [Islamic inscriptions in Arabic from the Maldives archipelago]. Archipel (in French). 70. Paris, France: 25.
  4. Mukherjee, Rila, ed. (2011). "Further commonalities: networks of religion, diplomacy, politics and economics". Pelagic Passageways: The Northern Bay of Bengal Before Colonialism. Primus Books. p. 115. ISBN   9789380607207.