 Bangladesh |  Maldives |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| High Commission of Bangladesh, Malé | High Commission of the Maldives, Dhaka |
| Envoy | |
| Acting High Commissioner Md Sohel Parvez | High Commissioner Shiuneen Rasheed |
Bangladesh and Maldives established diplomatic relations in 1978.
The 14th-century Moroccan explorer 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. [1] [2] [3] Other records have also mentioned a granddaughter of Alauddin Husain Shah being a queen in the Maldives too. [4]
The Maldives and Bangladesh established diplomatic relations on 22 September 1978. The Maldives opened its High Commission in Bangladesh in 2008. [5] In 2011, the Maldives government removed duty on all Bangladesh exports to the country. [6] In 2011, Bangladesh Army gave Maldives National Defence Force 7 military trucks. [7] Maldives closed its High Commission in Dhaka in March 2014 after the foreign ministry budget was slashed by 40 percent. Bangladesh offered to pay rent for embassy premises among other local costs but was refused "politely" by Maldives. [5]
In December 2014, Bangladesh sent 100 thousand litres of water after Maldives' sole water desalination plant stopped working after catching fire. [8] Maldives announced its intention to reopen the High Commission in Dhaka in July 2015. [9] The BNS Somudra Avijan delivered to the Maldives more than 100 metric tons of food, medicine and medical equipment in COVID-19 pandemic assistance in April 2020. [10] A Bangladesh Air Force medical team supported Maldives in their COVID-19 vaccination program in 2021. [11]
The Maldives has a significant Bangladeshi migrant worker population and has encouraged the migration of Bangladeshi workers. [12] [13] Bangladesh has a High Commission in the Maldives. [14] Maldivian government regularized the immigration status of more than 16 thousand Bangladeshi migrants on 2009. [15] In 2011 Bangladesh exported goods worth US$0.72 million and imported US$1.46 million from Maldives. [6] Official estimated suggest there are 70 to 80 thousand Bangladeshis in the Maldives. On 30 March 2015, the Bangladeshi expatriate community held a protest outside the Bangladeshi High Commission to protest against the death of two Bangladeshi expatriates. The Maldivian government warned that the protesters risked losing their visas. Ahmed Tholal, the Vice President of Human Rights Commission in Maldives, called the government move unconstitutional. [16] Bangladesh also exports pharmaceutical medicine to Maldives. [17]
The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is a country and archipelagic state in South Asia in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about 750 kilometres from the Asian continent's mainland. The Maldives' chain of 26 atolls stretches across the equator from Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the north to Addu Atoll in the south.
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 the Indian Ocean. The modern nation is formed of 26 natural atolls, comprising 1194 islands. Historically, the Maldives has held strategic importance due to its location on the major marine routes of the Indian Ocean. The Maldives's nearest neighbors 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 primary source of cowrie shells, which were then used as currency throughout Asia and parts of the East African coast. Most likely, the Maldives were influenced by the Kalingas of ancient India. The Kalingas were the earliest region of India to trade with Sri Lanka and the Maldives and 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. The Embassy of the People's Republic of China has since replaced this office.
Malé is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives. With a population of 211,908 in 2022 within its administrative area and coterminous geographical area of 8.30 square kilometres (3.20 sq mi), Malé is also one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city is geographically located in the southern edge of North Malé Atoll.
Abu Sayeed Chowdhury was a jurist and the second president of Bangladesh. Besides that, he held the positions of the Chairman of the United Nations Commission on Human rights, the vice-chancellor of the University of Dhaka, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh and the first Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK.
Islam is the state religion of the Maldives. The 2008 Constitution or "Fehi Qānoon" declares the significance of Islamic law in the country. The constitution requires that citizenship status be based on adherence to the state religion, which legally makes the country's citizens hundred percent Muslim. However residents, tourists and workers in the Maldives are free to be of any religion and practise them in private. However, in 2020, studies found that 0.29% of the population is Christian. During the late 1990s, the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs issued warnings, cautioning individuals against listening to radio programs broadcast in the Dhivehi language by the Far East Broadcasting Association, headquartered in the Seychelles. In 1998, 50 Maldivian Christians faced arrest and were detained on the prison island of Dhoonidhoo, while foreign Christians suspected of engaging in missionary activities were expelled from the country.
Muhammad Asadullah Al-Ghalib is a Bangladeshi reformist Islamic scholar and former professor of Arabic at the University of Rajshahi. He is the leader of a puritan Islamic movement Ahl-i Hadith Andalon Bangladesh (AHAB). He is also the founder of an Islamic research journal, Monthly At-tahreek. In an interview in 2017, Shakhawat Hossain, Ahl-e Hadith Andolon Bangladesh spokesperson, said the group claimed its lineage and the inspiration for its name from Islamist groups that had fought British colonialism in the early 19th century.
Al-Sultana Khadeejah Sri Raadha Abaarana Mahaa Rehendhi or more famously known as just Rehendhi Khadeejah meaning, Queen Khadeejah, was the Sultana of the Maldives from 1347 to 1379. She was one of the few female rulers in the recorded history of Maldives.
The Bangladeshi diaspora are people of Bangladeshi birth, descent or origin who live outside of Bangladesh. First-generation migrants may have moved abroad from Bangladesh for various reasons including better living conditions, to escape poverty, to support their financial condition, or to send money back to families there. The Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment estimates there are almost 7.5 million Bangladeshis living abroad, the fourth highest among the top 176 countries of origin for international migrants. Annual remittances transferred to Bangladesh were almost $23 billion in 2023, the seventh highest in the world and the third highest in South Asia.
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 2011–2013 Maldives political crisis began as a series of peaceful protests that broke out in the Maldives on 1 May 2011. They would continue, eventually escalating into the resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed in disputed circumstances in February 2012. Demonstrators were protesting what they considered the government's mismanagement of the economy and were calling for the ouster of President Nasheed. The main political opposition party in the country, the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party led by the former president of the country Maumoon Abdul Gayoom accused President Nasheed of "talking about democracy but not putting it into practice." The protests occurred during the Arab Spring.
On 5 February 2013, protests ignited in Shahbagh, Bangladesh, fueled by the call for the execution of the convicted war criminal Abdul Quader Mollah. Previously sentenced to life imprisonment, Mollah was convicted on five of six counts of war crimes by the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh. Mollah supported the West Pakistan during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and played a crucial role in the murder of numerous Bengali nationalists and intellectuals. The demonstrations also sought the government's ban on the radical right-wing and conservative-Islamist group, Jamaat-e-Islami from participating in politics, including elections, and a boycott of institutions supporting or affiliated with the group.
PRAN-RFL Group is a Bangladeshi conglomerate, founded in 1981 by Amjad Khan Chowdhury. It is one of the largest conglomerates in Bangladesh Pran-RFL Group is headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and employs over 1,00,000 people worldwide making it the largest employer brand in the country. The group operates under several subsidiaries, including Pran Foods, RFL Plastics, Pran-RFL Healthcare, and many others.
Bangladesh–Iraq relations refer to the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Iraq. Bangladesh has an embassy in Baghdad and Iraq has one in Dhaka. Mohammad Fazlul Bari is the Ambassador of Bangladesh to Iraq.
Bangladesh–Libya relations refer to the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Libya. Bangladesh has an embassy in Tripoli. Libya has an embassy in Dhaka. Both countries are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Bangladesh–Morocco relations refer to the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Morocco. Bangladesh has an embassy in Rabat and Morocco has one in Dhaka. Both countries are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Group of 77, Non-Aligned Movement and United Nations.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Maldives was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Maldives on 7 March 2020 from a 69-year-old Italian tourist who had returned to Italy after spending holidays in Kuredu Resort & Spa. The Health Protection Agency of Maldives confirmed two cases in Maldives, both employees of the resort. Following this, the hotel was locked down with several tourists stranded on the island. As of 11 March, the resorts of Kuredu, Vilamendhoo, Batalaa, and Kuramathi island were also placed under temporary quarantine. Schools were closed as a precaution.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Bangladesh in March 2020. The first three known cases were reported on 8 March 2020 by the country's epidemiology institute, IEDCR. Since then, the pandemic has spread day by day over the whole nation and the number of affected people has been increasing. Bangladesh is the second most affected country in South Asia, after India.
Sadat Hussain was a Bangladeshi bureaucrat and the 9th chairman of the Bangladesh Public Service Commission, one of the country's leading constitutional bodies. He also served as the chief of the Bangladesh Civil Service and as the cabinet secretary to the government of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh began the administration of COVID-19 vaccines on 27 January 2021 while mass vaccination started on 7 February 2021.
The High Commission of the Maldives in Bangladesh is the overseas diplomatic mission of the Maldives located in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.
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