"Fire in Maldives’ capital Male claims lives of 9 migrant workers from India", 10 November 2022

The fire brigade in Male, the capital of the Maldives, reported that a fire spread through crowded housing for foreign workers...killing at least 10 people and injuring many more.

[...]

Nine Indians and a Bangladeshi national were among the deceased, according to a security officer. Political parties in the Maldives have criticised the working conditions for foreigners. They hail mainly from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka and are estimated to make up approximately half of Male's 250,000 inhabitants.

[...]

Because of the severe treatment given to foreign workers in the Maldives during the COVID-19 outbreak, many migrants were at risk of abuse - Human Rights Watch warned in 2020. The Maldives government should take immediate action to protect migrant workers by maintaining the right to peaceful assembly and putting a stop to long-standing abuses of labour laws, it added.

Employers routinely mistreat migrant employees in the Maldives, as per past report. Such practices include dishonest hiring practises, pay theft, passport confiscation, dangerous housing and working conditions and high workload expectations that are illegal and suggest forced labour.