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| Sunday, 26 December 2004 |
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Scheme to protect families of migrant workers by L.S.A. Wedaarachchi The overseas employment has become the country's highest foreign exchange earner. Last year foreign exchange earnings were US$ 1,414 million (LKR 136,446 million) and out of that amount, 56.9% had been earned from the Middle East. Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment expects to be the global leader in providing quality and skilled manpower for the overseas market during the targeted period of next three years (2004-2007). This was revealed by Karunasena Hettiarachchi, Chairman of Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment in an exclusive interview with the 'Sunday Observer' business. Upto November this year 163,789 persons went abroad for employment through approved channels and in 2003, the number of persons who went abroad for jobs was 211,125. According to the available statistics, 1.5 million Sri Lankans are employed in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and in other countries and they are working as skilled and unskilled workers. Hettiarachchi said that the paramount duty of the Bureau is to ensure the safety of the emigrants as well as those of their families in Sri Lanka. At present except the Bureau no organisation looks after the foreign employees and their families. Although the foreign employees earn considerable sums of foreign currency, they face enormous problems and tragedies in their family circles, he added. Targetting the lives of the families of those working abroad the Bureau has planned and implemented a special foreign employees family development project islandwide recently. It is being operated with the assistance and the co-operation of the Divisional Secretaries. The elders, wives and husbands and the children of foreign employees, will be looked after by the new project. Chairman SLBFE also mentioned that the guidelines and the advice given by Minister Atauda Seneviratna, Minister of Labour Relations and Foreign Employment to plan and implement a special welfare project for foreign employees and their families was commendable. SLBFE has taken steps to sign bilateral agreements with the countries where Sri Lankans are employed such as Jordan, Lebanon, Cyprus, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. SLBFE has already signed a bilateral agreement with Saudi Arabian Committee on Foreign Employees, under the Saudi Arabian Chamber of Commerce. Better working conditions, insurance facilities, salaries and other welfare activities are being covered and assured by these agreements. In addition to the foreign employees in the Middle East, SLBFE has drawn attention to the Sri lankans who left Sri Lanka and live abroad, specially in America, Australia, Switzerland, Italy and other western countries. SLBFE has already commenced a project called "DIASPORA in Development" to identify and then organise Sri Lankans who are abroad and to look after their families, specially the help-needed elders living in Sri Lanka. |
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