Yameen slams Western “double standards” against Maldives

Powerful western countries use “double standards” to unfairly judge small and vulnerable nations like the Maldives, President Abdulla Yameen has said.

Speaking at a function held on Thursday night to mark International Human Rights Day, Yameen said the UN was also powerless to stop the double standards against small nations.

“There are plenty of UN resolutions on the Palestine issue. But countries that advocate for human rights, and countries that raise their voices saying there are no human rights in the Maldives, surely do not see the suffering of the Palestinian people, and their ears are surely deaf to it,” he said.

Following widespread condemnation of the imprisonment of former President Mohamed Nasheed and other politicians earlier this year, Yameen has repeatedly slammed alleged foreign interference in Maldivian domestic affairs, declaring that his government would not bow to foreign pressure.