Crisis in paradise? Latent threats to the beaches of the Maldives

The Maldives, an island country renowned for its white sand beaches and turquoise waters that attract wealthy tourists, now face multiple threats due to political instability, rising sea levels and the coronavirus pandemic.

In a sign of the political tension Living in the South Asian nation, former President Mohamed Nasheed was seriously injured in an explosive attack on Thursday, May 6 in the capital.

The country is a group of 26 atolls composed of 1192 small islands spread over 800 kilometers.

With a population of 340,000 inhabitants According to the latest census, only 187 of its islands are inhabited, although the World Bank estimated that in 2020 its resident population was 515,000 people, including foreign workers.

Tourism and economy

the luxury tourism It is its main source of income, which contributes a quarter of its gross domestic product (GDP). However, the Covid-19 pandemic has devastated the tourism sector and its economy contracted by 28% last year.

The archipelago’s secluded beaches and pristine lagoons have attracted over 1.7 million tourists in 2019But that number fell to 550,000 last year. Recently, they announced a plan to provide vaccines to tourists and jumpstart the economy.

It is a desired destination by movie stars, like Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, who visited him in 2006 for their honeymoon.

Problems

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom he ruled the country with an iron fist for 30 years until 2008, when he lost the first multiparty elections to human rights activist Nasheed.

Nasheed was forced to resign in 2012 after a coup d’etat by police and army.

The following year, in a contested election, Nasheed was defeated by Abdulah Yameen, Gayoom’s half-brother.

Nasheed was sentenced in 2015 to 13 years in prison for terrorism, widely criticized as politically motivated. A year later he was released from prison for medical treatment in London.

I research refuge in Brittany but he returned to the Maldives after his ally Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the 2018 presidential election against Yameen.

The following year he won a parliamentary seat and became legislative president, the second most powerful office in the country.

About 80% of the Maldives are less than one meter above sea level, making it one of the countries most threatened by sea ​​level rise caused by global warming.

Located along the trade routes of Indian Ocean, the country has been colonized several times during its history, converting to Islam in the 12th century.

The official religion is Sunni Islam, and others are prohibited. The country bans alcohol, except in tourist hotels, and homosexuality.

to exist fears of radicalization via websites, and the country has banned foreign preachers. Despite themselves, some 300 Maldivians traveled to Syria to join jihadist forces at the height of the Islamic State group.

Nasheed expressed his fear that religious extremists would take control of the country. The attacks on independent journalists have been blamed on Islamic extremists.

AFP