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, Maldivian
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 Maldivian foreign ministry some 80,000 Bangladeshi are now (2021) working in the Maldives, a nation of only around 400,000 people, with one-third having no valid documents or registration [1] This is a major portion among all the foreign workers in the Maldives.

References

  1. ^ a b 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). Paris, France. 70: 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.


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