This is a map of the capital city of the Maldives, Male, and the surrounding islands. This is where a large portion of the people live in the Maldives. These are just a few of the 1,200 islands that make up the nation.

            On September 29, 2010, parents of children in the government school on Foakaindhoo Island in Shaviyani Atoll stormed into the school accusing Christian ex-patriot teacher Geethamma George of drawing a cross in class. Officials then took her off of the island out of fear of her being attacked. A couple of days later, while teaching Class VI students, drew a compass to help teach geography. The students, who knew little English, mistook the compass for a cross. They thought that this was because she was trying to teach Christianity to them. They complained about it to their parents, who issued the school a warning. The school then set up a committee to investigate the matter. They found that she was just teaching a geography lesson and was not teaching Christianity. But after parents reportedly threatened to tie her and drag her off the island, she was once again relocated to the island of Funadhoo. George, like so many other Indians working in the Maldives, was from the state of Karela. Her story is like that of so many other persecuted Christians living and working in the Maldives. 


 Above is a picture of Shaviyani Atoll and the islands within it. This is where Geethamma George was first accused of teaching Christianity. http://www.maldivesbest.com/map-of-shaviyani-atoll

           In late September, 2011, a teacher at the Raafainu School in the Raa Atoll named Shijo Kokkattu, was arrested for owning a Bible and a rosary. The police raided his house, where they found these items, after learning from his co-workers that he was storing Christian materials on a school computer. The materials where on the computer because he was downloading things from his flash drive and accidently downloaded some catholic songs (in a south Indian language), and a picture of the virgin Mary. He was a parishoner from Tellicherry Archdiocese in Karela, a state in south India. He was taken to another island for interrogation and was charged with teaching the Christian faith in a Muslim country. He was held in custody by the Maldives for around two weeks, after which he was deported. 

The picture above is a picture of a Maldivian departure card (http://blog.opendoorsusa.org/a-story-of-persecution-in-the-maldives-shijo/).This is probably the type of card that Shijo Kokattu and Jathish Biswas would have had to fill out as they were deported. Below is a video explaining what happened to Shijo Kokattu  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-9vfFtXldo).

           On September 27th, 2012, a 46 year old Christian leader from Bangladesh named Jathish Biswas was arrested for smuggling Christian books into the Maldives. He was arrested in Male Ibrahim Nasir International Airport and was held for 23 days before being released and deported. Upon his arival at the airport, security found 11 Christian books, written in the Maldivian language Dihvehi, in his bag. Around the same time, a Maldivian citizen was also arrested at the airport for doing the same thing. He was apparently linked with Biswas. Biswas is the executive developer of a Christian social and economic development agency called Way of Life Trust. Around the same time, a U.S Christian was arrested and deported for his alleged links to Biswas. Both will never be allowed into the country again. 

 Above is the city of Male, the capital of the Maldives, which is home to a large portion of the nations inhabitants.