The new Special Management Unit built at the Maafushi Prison of Maldives Correctional Service (MCS) has been inaugurated today by Hon. Minister of Home Affairs Imran Abdulla.
The inaugural ceremony held this morning at Maafushi Prison, the Minister had also launched the “Standard Operating Procedures” (SOP) of the Unit. The SOP was compiled with the expertise of UNODC and the financial aid from EU.
The Special Management Unit (SMU) can house 100 inmates and is built to house and rehabilitate inmates with extremist school of thought. A special programme will be conducted at the Unit to rehabilitate extremist inmates and to reform them into upright individuals. Some of the necessary training programmes have already been conducted with the assistance of UNODC and EU for the prison officers assigned to the Unit.
While speaking at the ceremony as the chief guest, Hon. Minister of Home Affairs Imran Abdulla said that opening a special unit specifically for extremist inmates is a breakthrough for the work being done to combat extremism. He noted the importance of providing the required training and skill to the officers and staff in the upcoming days by collaborating with relevant institutions. The Minister highlighted the significance of instilling the mindset for such a work among the officers and said that Home Ministry will continue to support MCS jointly with UNODC.
In his speech, the Commissioner of Prisons Ahmed Mohamed Fulhu said that inmates spreading the extremist school of thinking are taking advantage of the fact that people convicted of different types of crime have to be housed together and is very damaging. He said that building a separate unit for extremist inmates means that they can be housed separately from the general population and therefore more convenient to rehabilitating them. In addition, the Commissioner thanked Ministry of Home Affairs for the support in completing the Unit and also thanked UNODC for their expertise and guidance in compiling the Risk Assessment Tool and the Unit’s Classification Tool.
Speaking on behalf of UNODC, Programme Coordinator Ms Thoiba Saeed stated that the work is still ongoing and UNODC will continue to provide financial and professional assistance to MCS.
