Maldives aims to repatriate over 20,000 undocumented workers by the end of this year, Minister of Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail said.

Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Ismail said that undocumented Bangladeshi workers numbering 4,000 have been repatriated this year, and another 20,000 repatriations were planned by year end, reports Xinhua news agency.

Ismail noted that the issue of undocumented workers has been a challenge to the government and new regulations have been put in place to clarify the kinds of work and wages that migrants are eligible too.

Meanwhile, the state media reported that 41 migrant workers were arrested on Monday following clashes with police during a protest regarding non-payment of wages.

Foreign citizens make up over 60 pe rcent of Maldives' 2762 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to the Health Protection Agency (HPA). IANS)