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| Sunday, 5 February 2006 |
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Labour Minister visits Gulf region by Ananda Kannangara In an effort to seek a permanent solution to numerous employment problems and various other hardships faced by Sri Lankan migrant workers during their short stint abroad, a high level Labour Department delegation will make a three-day visit in the Gulf Region commencing from February 25. Labour Relations and Foreign Employment Minister Athauda Seneviratne will lead the delegation, while Chairman, Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) Jagath Wellawatta will also represent the country. According to SLBFE statistics around one million Lankans are presently in the Middle Eastern countries and majority of them are employed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Among the workers 80 per cent are females. During their three-day stay, the Lankan delegation is expected to conduct a special meeting and a workshop in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the participation of Labour Ministers in charge of labour providing countries in the Region and also job agents who are responsible for providing job opportunities to Lankan workers. In an interview with the 'Sunday Observer' on Friday, Bureau, Chairman Jagath Wellawatta stressed the importance of sending Labour teams very often to labour providing countries to look into numerous irregularities faced by our workers, especially the female workers, considering the invaluable service rendered by them to bring a colossal amount of foreign exchange to the motherland every year. "Sexual and physical harassments, non-paying of wages, unusual behaviour of certain employers, overstaying without valid job permits, keeping in detention camps without valid reasons, engaging in various robberies and shop-lifting are some of the common problems being encountered by our workers," he said. |
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