The Republic of the Maldives is best known as a luxury tourist destination with beautiful sandy beaches. A collection of 1,190 coral reef islands in the Indian Ocean, the Maldives lies to the south west of Sri Lanka. Only 200 islands are inhabited, with approximately one third of the 300,000 citizens and 65,000 migrant workers living in the crowded capital of Male.But behind the image of ‘the sunny side of life’, this popular holiday destination denies religious freedom to its citizens and migrant workers. The Maldives is one of only a few countries in the world where only one faith can be practiced publicly, and the only nation which legally prescribes and enforces homogeneity in religion.