Tourism minister Moosa Zameer spoke out during ITB, where the island nation was official partner country, dismissing such reports as scare stories, which he claimed were part of a political campaign to tarnish the country’s image.
“Some journalists, especially in Germany, roundly distorted the truth and the reality on the ground,” he claimed. “It led to exciting headlines that had no basis in reality.”
The minister stressed the islands’ ruling regime took the issue of home-grown extremism very seriously.
“That is why we have passed a new anti-terror bill, set up a counter-terrorism centre and are working with international counter-terrorism agencies to share intelligence and resources,” he explained.
“All nations, from the UK, Belgium and France to the US, face this same issue. To single out the Maldives, which has yet to receive any credible threat of an attack, is grossly unfair.”
The minister claimed the Maldives was proud of its unblemished safety record and said attempts to “panic and scaremonger” unfairly damaged a safe reputation that the archipelago had spent many years building.
“This, in turn, has a tangible effect on employment and jobs. Crucially, with lack of opportunity and youth unemployment intrinsically linked to the rise of indigenous terror networks, the tragic irony of this tactic is all too clear,” he added.
