Large numbers of Christians on the paradise islands of the Maldives - a magnet for Western tourists - have been rounded up and thrown into prison.

Foreign believers have been deported in an effort to prevent the spread of the Christian gospel.

In June, the National Security Service swooped unannounced on foreign workers homes, seizing passports, computers and Christian literature which had been legally brought into the country.

Up to 19 foreign Christians were interrogated, forced to sign statements, and were "expelled for life" without any charges being pressed.

At the same time, between 30 and 50 Maldivians suspected of being believers were arrested, interrogated and imprisoned. Reports from reliable sources indicate that even now, almost two months since the arrests, between 20 and 30 are still being held on the prison island of Dhoonidhoo near the capital.

A Maldivian press report in June revealed that the government was taking this action to rid the Islamic country of foreigners and nationals who were spreading Christianity.

The Maldives has been Sunni Muslim for the past 800 years, and it is illegal to be anything other than a Muslim.

Among the detained men and women are these two. Aminath Moonisa is 17. She and 32-year-old Aneesa Hussain have openly professed their faith in Jesus. They have committed no crime or taken any action against their government. Sources say Aneesa has been beaten in prison, kept in solitary confinement and received death threats.

Just before the arrests the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs called on all Maldivians not to listen to a new missionary programme being broadcast by Feba radio from the Seychelles in the local language, Dhivehi.

After the arrests President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom accused Christian missionaries of deception. He called on every citizen to maintain national stability by standing against "evil plans made to play with hearts and minds".

The Maldivian High Commissioner in Columbo, Abdul Azeez Yoosef, said spreading the Christian Gospel was a "serious offence".

The national political system, he said, had been designed to sustain the unity of the people by the "strongest bondage of their faith".

One of the European believers who was forcibly repatriated told CSW, "I was so shocked when I saw my friends being roughly treated at the police station. I felt helpless'.no crime has been committed unless being a Christian is a crime"!

Only last October our queen, Elizabeth II, presented the President of The Maldives with the St. Michael & St. George Award, - the highest honour possible for a foreign dignitary.

The Maldives is an archipelago of some 1200 low-lying coral islands stretching from the equator to the Southern tip of India in the Indian Ocean. Only 200 of the islands are inhabited, with a population of around a quarter of a million people.