Welfare benefits for all Sri Lankans abroad - Dilan

By Ananda KANNANGARA

The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) which completes 25 years of service this year is the only Government institution that has the sole authority to send Sri Lankan workers for foreign jobs.

The Bureau will implement a number of welfare measures for the benefit of over 1.3 million Sri Lankans employed in foreign countries, especially in the Middle Eastern region.

Although the SLBFE was under the Ministry of Labour for several years, the Government decided to create a separate Ministry for Foreign Employment on a directive of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The decision was taken due to the increase in the number of Sri Lankans leaving the country for foreign jobs.

At present our labour force is not only confined to the Middle Eastern region, but also several other non- Middle Eastern countries such as Korea, Singapore, Italy, Maldives, Cyprus, Hongkong, Japan, UK and Australia.

In an interview with the Sunday Observer, the new Minister for Foreign Employment Dilan Perera who assumed duties last week said his prime objective was to eliminate all forms of corruption and irregularities when sending Sri Lankan workers to certain countries.

He said most of these irregularities are carried out without the knowledge of high ranking officials in the Bureau.

The Minister also said the day when he was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Employment he had to do a comprehensive study of the responsibilities of the Bureau.

Minister Perera said. He is of the view that the Bureau should maintain a good track record with people in a transparent manner and not for personal benefits.

"Wherever in the world we send our workers it must be done in a methodical way, so that no one could tarnish the good name of the Bureau," he said.

The Bureau launched several new projects and expanded existing projects last week with the assuming of duties by the new Minister.

Accordingly, the welfare benefits, currently being granted to

over 1.2 million Sri Lankan workers who went for foreign jobs with the Bureau approval will be extended to all other Sri Lankan individuals and families living at any part of the world.

The Minister said Sri Lanka was among the first States that ratified the international convention on the `Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families' on March 11, 1996.

Minister Dilan Perera highlighted the housing scheme on low interest rates implemented by the Bureau for Sri Lankan migrant workers and their dependents.

Accordingly, the Bureau in collaboration with the State Mortgage and Investment Bank will provide loans up to Rs. 500,000 to each family on 13 percent interest rate.

Out of the 13 percent, the Bureau grants seven percent to the Bank and the balance of six percent is borne by migrant workers themselves.

The Seven percent is granted by the Bureau as a token of appreciation to workers who make great sacrifice to bring foreign exchange to the motherland.

The Rs. 500,000 loan could be settled within a period of five years.

The Bureau also focused attention towards providing of self-employment opportunities to migrant workers who face accidents and become disabled while being employed.

Accordingly, each disabled worker is granted Rs. 25,000 by the Bureau to start any self-employment. In addition, disabled workers are also granted insurance and other compensations.

The Bureau has also come to understand that many children of migrant workers disrupt their educational activities during the period their mothers or fathers are employed in foreign countries.

Accordingly, the Bureau has decided to carry out a survey on such children and encourage them to follow vocational training on various employment categories, so that they could easily find employment in Sri Lanka or abroad.

They are also trained to improve their language skills, considering that it will be very useful for them to work in respective countries. Minister Dilan Perera also focused attention on the implementation of a pension scheme for migrant workers.

Accordingly, all migrant workers who complete a considerable service period in foreign countries are entitled to the pension scheme to enable them to spend the latter part of their life without being a burden to others.

Minister Dilan Perera also wants to expand the existing educational scholarships, given by the Bureau to the children of migrant workers.

He said the children of migrant workers will be granted financial benefits during their university career, in addition to the grade five scholarships, the GCE (OL) and (AL) examinations.

He said Rs. 1000 million was allocated from the last week's Budget to start the pension scheme. The Minister has also discussed with the Youth Affairs Ministry to implement new vocational courses for children of migrant workers.

Accordingly, needy children will be trained on Information Technology, Computer, motor mechanism, carpentry etc.

He also said the job market in Israel is open to our workers in the coming months and all recruitment is done in an transparent manner. The Minister said he also spoke with the Housing Authority to construct low cost houses for migrant workers .

Minister Dilan Perera has also decided to establish a `Migrant Worker Foundation' to help our workers to solve their social matters during their stay abroad and after coming to Sri Lanka.

The Minister also made a fervent appeal to the Private sector employment agencies to extend their co-operation towards migrant workers and their children to improve their living standards.

He also wants to deploy investigation officials to improve the welfare of migrant workers, especially the female workers.

Meanwhile, SLBFE, Chairman Kingsly Ranawaka said a record number of 550,000 are currently employed in Saudi Arabia.

He said that 70 per cent of them are females and over 60 per cent are engaged in non housemaid capacity jobs.

The Bureau Chairman further said that the UAE is the second prominent job supplier for Sri Lankan workers and Kuwait has become the third largest employer for Sri Lankan workers.

He said attractive salaries are not the only reason for Sri Lankans to seek jobs in these countries, but also a number of welfare measures including medical facilities, Bank loans and insurance schemes, implemented by the SLBFE for the benefit of our workers.

"In addition, introducing compensation schemes for workers in the event of death or being physically disabled during their employment period, housing loans and bank loans for both the workers and their families and also vocational training courses for workers prior to their departure are some of the new incentives introduced by the Bureau," he said.