New Delhi: After a 13-year-old boy in the Maldives died purportedly in the absence of timely medical intervention, opposition leaders in the island nation criticised President Mohamed Muizzu for not using the Dornier aircraft given by India, to airlift the child from his village to the capital for treatment, according to reports in the Maldivian media.
“The Indian Dornier is used for emergency medical evacuations. In 2023 alone, 83 lives were saved as a result of medical evacuations carried out by the Dornier. However, at present, two lives have already been lost because of the government’s continuous hostility towards India. Maldivian people are paying with their lives,” Safaath Ahmed, a former spokesperson for the Maldivian ministry of foreign affairs, told ThePrint.
The Aasandha Company Ltd — the state-owned entity responsible for managing the Maldives’ national health insurance scheme — had said in a statement Saturday that it received an emergency evacuation (EEV) request on 18 January to airlift the child from GA Vilingili Atoll hospital to the Indira Gandhi Memorial hospital in Malé.
The child, who had a brain tumour, had suffered a stroke.
The request, Aasandha added, was processed and approved “within 12 minutes” but the chartered flight tasked with airlifting the child could not land at the Kooddoo airport due to a “technical problem with the flight at the last moment”. Aasandha said it had arranged for a sea ambulance to transport the child from GA Villingili to the Kooddoo airport.
Media Statement: Regarding the Emergency Medical Evacuation Incident from GA Vilingili on January 18, 2024 pic.twitter.com/4weAjLEPPA
— Aasandha Company Ltd (@AasandhaLtd) January 20, 2024
A second flight was then chartered later that same evening to transport the child to Malé but by then it was too late.
The parents of the child alleged that the emergency evacuation was delayed for hours, and during this time his condition deteriorated further, according to a report by the Maldivian digital news outlet Sun Online. Angered by the delay, an agitated crowd reportedly gathered around the hospital in GA Vilingili Saturday, with some of the protestors even taping a paper over the hospital’s nameplate.
Reacting to claims that the delay resulted in the child’s death, Maldivian opposition leaders criticised Muizzu for not using the Dornier aircraft given by New Delhi, to airlift the child. Meekail Naseem, a member of the Maldivian parliament said in a post on X that people “should not have to pay with their lives to satisfy the President’s animosity towards India”.
Mohamed Faisal, Maldives’ former deputy ambassador to the UAE added that this is the second such incident in recent days, where President Muizzu’s “refusal to deploy” the Dornier aircraft in an emergency led to the death of an individual.
Only a few days ago, an Addu family lost their son at sea due to Muizzu's refusal to deploy the Dornier. Today, a young boy from GA. Villigili has lost his life when the Dornier could have potentially saved him. How many lives must be sacrificed due to Muizzu's pitiful arrogance?
— Mohamed Faisal (@faixal) January 20, 2024
Muizzu’s office issued a statement stating that he was “deeply saddened” to hear of the death of the 13-year old boy. It added that Muizzu has ordered a review of the events leading to the child’s death. “He additionally implored the authorities to revise and modify the current protocols surrounding the emergency transfers of patients requiring immediate medical attention to prevent such incidents henceforth,” it said.
This incident comes amid strained ties between Malé and New Delhi after the Maldivian government had to suspend three deputy ministers for making derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Muizzu administration in the island archipelago came to power on the promise of withdrawal of 75 Indian unarmed military personnel stationed in Maldives to operate the two helicopters and the Dornier aircraft.
The government of Maldives on 14 January gave India a deadline of 15 March to withdraw all 75 personnel from the island archipelago. On Thursday, Malé reiterated its demand for the withdrawal of Indian troops, during a meeting between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Maldivian counterpart Moosa Zameer.
Safaath Ahmed had told ThePrint earlier that the Indian personnel were stationed in Maldives to aid in search and rescue operations and medical emergencies. She added that at least 495 lives were saved between January 2019 and September 2023 as a result of assistance extended by the Indian personnel.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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