MEP: Police in the Maldives have begun to stifle political activists before a visit by King Salman of Saudi Arabia, who is rumored to be trying to buy an atoll, complete with a small town, from the island nation.
Journalists have been arrested and the offices of opposition parties raided after unrest prompted by reports of the sale. Opposition activists say that Saudi Arabia is exerting an ever-greater influence on the Maldives, which is facing rising Islamist extremism.
President Yameen, who seized power in 2013, has denied that Faafu Atoll, which has a population of more than 4,000, will be sold to King Salman, who will visit the Indian Ocean nation on the last stop of a six-nation tour of Asia. The government says that the Saudis want to invest $10 billion in a new “economic city” on a cluster of islands southwest of Malé, the capital.
The kingdom has funded the construction of several mosques in the Maldives, some preaching Wahhabism, the ultra-conservative brand of Sunni Islam followed in Saudi Arabia. The radical Islamic teaching, combined with rising unemployment and drug use among Maldivian youths, has driven many to join militant groups. Critics blame, in part, Mr Yameen’s close ties with Saudi Arabia, with whom he signed a religious co-operation agreement in 2015.
More than 200 young men have left the Maldives to join Islamic State and there is growing concern of a terrorism threat when they return home.
The opposition Maldivian Democratic party (MDP) has accused the president of “creeping colonialism”. It said in a statement this week: “The government is facilitating a land grab by a foreign power, and trying to close down all debate and scrutiny over the issue.”
Anticipating protests, police raided the MDP’s offices in Malé and warned that any “demeaning” activities during the royal visit would be crushed. Journalists regarded as dissenting have also been rounded up.
Mr Yameen has remained vague on the details of the Saudi plan. “No one needs to rush to get the details. We need to keep the negotiations under wraps for now because this is such a significant investment for us. Is Faafu Atoll being sold? No, no place is being sold,” he said this week.
Since ousting Mohamed Nasheed, the first democratically elected leader of the Maldives, in a disputed run-off in 2013, Mr Yameen has imposed an increasingly authoritarian rule on the troubled state. An explosion on his speedboat in 2015 that injured his wife and bodyguards became the pretext for repression, with several political rivals arrested, including his vice-president.
Mr Nasheed, who is in exile in London, plans to return to challenge Mr Yameen at next year’s presidential elections, despite fears that he will be arrested on arrival.
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