Three more opposition figures granted asylum in the UK

Three key opposition figures, who fled the Maldives for fear of persecution, have been granted political refugee status by the British government.

Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, a former vice president, Ali Waheed, the chairperson of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, and Ameen Ibrahim, the Jumhooree Party’s deputy leader were granted asylum under the 1952 Geneva Convention on the status of refugees, according to reliable sources.

The three head the Maldives United Opposition, a newly formed coalition of opposition parties and former senior government officials, which has vowed to arrest President Abdulla Yameen on charges of corruption and human rights violations.

Jameel, Yameen’s former deputy who was impeached a year ago, fled to the United Kingdom just days before he was removed from office.