Officials blame victims of human-trafficking for low conviction rates

The Maldivian authorities have blamed the country’s appallingly low rate of conviction for human trafficking on victims’ failure to cooperate with investigations.

This year, the Maldives was placed on the US state department’s watch list for human trafficking for a second consecutive year.

Maldives hires US lobbyist Podesta Group for US$300,000

The government of Maldives has hired Washington’s most prominent lobbyist firm, Podesta Group, for a sum of US$300,000 to advocate on its behalf amidst calls for targeted sanctions on government officials for human rights violations.