Migrant Workers' Charter ensures:

Dignity and respect for migrant workers

By Uditha KUMARASINGHE

Foreign Employment and Welfare Minister Dilan Perera said our migrant workers are the highest foreign exchange earners for Sri Lanka. The Minister stressed the importance of safeguarding the rights of migrant workers without undermining their dignity. The Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer said his ultimate goal is to introduce a Migrant Workers' Charter to make migrant workers into a dignified and reputed work force that should be respected by the entire nation.

Minister Perera who highlighted the importance of the role played by the media to promote the country's foreign employment sector requested the media to report success stories in the foreign employment sector as well.

Q: How has the Ministry intervened as the policy maker to create gainful foreign employment opportunities?

A: Our new Ministry has drawn up a series of programs to promote foreign employment in the job market. For instance, we had a discussion with the officials of the Italian embassy in Sri Lanka to get into a memorandum of understanding with the Italian authorities regarding 3,500 job quotas that the Italian Government normally offers to Sri Lanka. Every year they give us 3,500 job quotas which are now entirely taken over by illegal immigrants to Italy. These Sri Lankans are the people who gain by these job opportunities now. I am not against with them getting it, but we want to see whether the Government can also make use of that quota given by the Italian Government to send legal immigrants as well. Annually Sri Lanka gets the highest quota from Italy because of the efficient and capable officials appointed by the President. The general feeling that countries in the European Union are not very much in favour of Sri Lanka is not true. Italy has always been a very good friend to Sri Lanka and they have always taken Sri Lanka's side whenever there has been a problem. So Italy is a very true friend of Sri Lanka and their job quotas have also been very good where we are concerned. We are now exploring the possibility of giving those job quotas to legal immigrants which were earlier grabbed by Sri Lankan illegal immigrants.

I also had a discussion with the Acting High Commissioner of Australia to see whether the Australian Government can start reputed and recognized training institutes in Sri Lanka. When such aspirants get a recognized training certificate here, automatically jobs are available for them in Australia. The Australian job market is open and people who have the necessary qualifications plus the necessary skills for a particular job are employable. What we lack in Sri Lanka is training to suit the openings available in Australia. In Institutions that will offer this type of training is what is required. We have had the initial round of talks with the Acting High Commissioner of Australia in Sri Lanka regarding this. Following nearly three hours of extensive discussions, the Acting High Commissioner has sent us all the details required to progress further until training facilities and issue of certificates to find employment opportunities in Australia falls into place.

The Japanese market is an emerging new market which we have to look at. We are trying to see whether that market can also be clinched by reaching a memorandum of understanding between our two Governments. In addition President Mahinda Rajapaksa has taken a major step forward to find job opportunities in Korea. When the Korean Commerce Minister visited Sri Lanka recently, the President during bilateral talks persuaded the Korean Commerce Minister to increase the present 5,000 to 7,500 job opportunities given to Sri Lankans to 15,000. From this year, we will be able to register 15,000 Korean employment opportunities thanks to the President's intervention. That is one of the major steps taken to promote foreign employment. We are also looking at general job opportunities in Saudi, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Malaysia, Singapore and Cyprus as well. We are very concerned about the Qatar job market. Our External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris recently met the Emir of Qatar and he pledged to provide more employment opportunities in Qatar as well. We have also laid emphasis on the European market as well. With the European Union's expansion, we have realised that there are job opportunities in countries such as Poland and Romania.

Q: There is a need to create a new image where the foreign employment industry and migrant workers are concerned. How is your Ministry addressing this issue?

A: I have focused a lot of attention in this area. Our migrant worker is the highest foreign exchange earner for Sri Lanka today. But this recognition should not be at the expense of the worker who should not be treated as a slave. We must be able to appreciate migrant workers without undermining his dignity. We must be able to ensure all the rights of the migrant worker. I am always in touch with the International Labour Organisation and International Organisation for Migration. These institutions maintain close links with our Ministry. We are trying to start new programs and workshops to educate migrant workers about their rights. After I make necessary appointments to the Migration Labour Advisory Councils, I will have an ILO coordinating unit in my Ministry itself to apprise migrant workers of their rights. My ultimate goal is to produce a Migrant Workers Charter which will have all the necessary ingredients to turn migrant worker into a dignified migrant work force that will be respected by the entire nation. Foreign employers should also respect our migrant workers because these Sri Lankans not only bring foreign exchange to our country but also help those countries to develop their economies. So it is a give and take agreement. We should also improve the image of our migrant workers. Then Sri Lankan society will not look down upon them. We have to respect them because they are the people who bring the highest amount of foreign exchange to the country which is a very essential factor to develop the economy in Sri Lanka.

Q: What are the initiatives taken by the Ministry to safeguard the rights of migrant workers whilst ensuring their welfare and protection?

A: In order to protect the rights of migrant workers, I have taken a major step to increase the minimum age of 18 to 21 years. Earlier the minimum age limit for domestic workers was 18 years. Some female workers aged 16 or 17 years have gone to Middle Eastern countries as housemaids by producing forged documents and passports. This is one of the major problems that we have faced in this sector. Therefore I have extended the minimum age limit to 21 years, so that they will have time to learn some skills before they go abroad. I have also given instructions to officials of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau to assist foreign employment agencies as well. In addition to the housemaid category, we have also focused attention on male workers and skilled workers as well. We are trying to deregulate some of the strict measures imposed in the male and skilled worker category. As a result, foreign employment agencies will get more opportunities to send workers abroad. We are also going to recognise and register sub agents as well. Even though agents are registered and recognised at present, sub agents are not registered or recognised. So I have evolved a process to register sub agents as well by giving them due recognition. That would enable them to play a role in the promotion of foreign employment.

Q: Has the Ministry laid emphasis on the quality improvement of migrant workers?

A: We have taken a lot of steps in this regard. At present we are in the process of getting training companies to set up training centres in Sri Lanka. We try to get training facilities which are recognized in those countries. We will also look at whether we can adopt a Philippines style state-of-the-art training centre here for domestic workers. My idea is to set up five training centres in the Northern, Southern, Uva, Western and North Western provinces to provide perfect training to the workers before they leave the country. We have also decided to increase the seven days training provided for workers employable in Korea to 10 and 14 days. We will try to add the language factor plus English into all the language training courses which are given to migrant workers.

Q: Sometimes migrant workers who go to the Middle East are harassed and there are certain incidents where some migrant workers have been harassed and even killed by their employers. How does the Ministry intend to prevent such incidents in the future?

A: Compared to the many success stories, the unsuccessful stories are very few and are below five percent. But as far as I am concerned even if the percentage is one percent, it matters to me. If one migrant worker is harassed, it's a big issue to us. Because Sri Lankans should not be harassed or treated as slaves. We need the support of the media as well. They should talk about the success stories just as much as they give publicity to the unsuccessful stories.Otherwise it would adversely affect bilateral relations we maintain with some Middle East countries and the Middle East job market as well. However, some incidents are worth looking at and some incidents are utterly false. I don't see positive thinking behind all the incidents that the media are highlighting. Some media reports are very negative and some media reports about incidents are baseless. Of course there are some incidents that we know have a very good base and have been looked into very seriously. in this instance we have taken stern action against some foreign employment agencies in Sri Lanka by banning them. We have also spoken to the authorities overseas to ban them in those countries as well.

Some of the actions taken by Sri Lankans in foreign countries are illegal and flout their law. As a result, sometimes they have face problems. For example picketing in Sri Lanka is legal. But it is illegal in some foreign countries. We have taken into serious consideration the issue of harassment at work places. We have taken action on allegations which have been proved. We can't take any action against baseless allegations as some of those baseless allegations are politically motivated.

Q: Has the Ministry formulated any mechanism to monitor foreign employment agencies which mislead potential migrant workers?

A: Definitely. We are not only registering foreign employment agencies but also developing a scheme to register and recognise sub agencies as well. No agency can give or divulge wrong information or false promises to the workers. Because each worker has to sign the agreement in front of officials of the Foreign Employment Bureau. Nobody can sign an agreement in the absence of Foreign Employment Bureau officials or outside the Foreign Employment Bureau. Officials will explain to workers step by step and word by word about, working conditions, salaries, accommodation etc. Therefore no foreign employment agency can give false promises or cheat workers now.

Q: What is the progress on the initiatives taken by the Ministry to bring back Sri Lankan expatriates in Libya?

A: I have appointed an operational committee headed by the Foreign Employment Bureau Chairman which operates round the clock to monitor this situation. We have already brought back some Sri Lankans from Libya. We are in the process of getting back the other Sri Lankans as well. We have managed to send some Sri Lankans in Libya to neighbouring countries like Malta and Egypt. We will be flying them from those countries. In addition, MP Sajin Vaas Gunawardene has voluntarily helped us immensely to find the necessary air facilities to fly them from Tripoli. We are now trying to see whether we can get these people in Tripoli to Dubai. Then MP Gunawardene will coordinate air facilities that are needed for us to fly them from Dubai to Sri Lanka. The President intervened and give us the necessary guidelines in some of these issues when we had to bring workers from Libya. Officials of the External Affairs Ministry have been helpful. The Ministry had also spoken to Indian authorities to make use of Indian ships that India is using to get back Indian workers from Libya. I must say that none as far as Sri Lankans are concerned there has been no major issue, unlike in workers from Europe had to face. We have managed to bring back Sri Lankans safely to the country. In addition, Sri Lankans in Libya are looked after well, although it is difficult to do so at this point of time.

Q: How has the Ministry intervened to settle Rizana Nafeek's case?

A: The law that prevails in Saudi Arabia is the Shariah Law. It is different from Sri Lankan law. Even the king of that country is unable to grant a pardon. But the Saudi authorities have been very positive towards Sri Lanka. President Mahinda Rajapaksa personally intervened in this case and made a personal appeal to the Saudi King. Because of his intervention, the punishment that had to be meted out has been stalled. But this does not mean it is a pardon. According to Shariah law, the only people who can pardon the offender are the victim's parents. We are trying to use various ways and means to see how we can get the consent of the victim's parents to release Rizana. The media should also help us in this regard. The punishment has not been carried out because of the President's personal appeal. We must be very careful especially when reporting this incident in the media. Rizana's life has to be saved. That has to be done very diplomatically. Therefore this situation has to be realized by the media. There is a lot of responsibility on the part of the media when reporting Rizana's case.

Q: How do you view the demand made by the Opposition to repeal the state of Emergency at this juncture?

A: At present the Government has repealed many sections of the Emergency regulations. Emergency regulations are not that strong unlike in the past. Nearly 20 or 25 Emergency regulations have been repealed. What is remaining right now are the sections that are needed to control some of the LTTE remnants. That is needed at this juncture. Sometimes Emergency regulations are needed not only to deal with terrorist activities but also to deal with some day- to- day activities in a faster manner. Sometimes if we try to follow normal regulations, we can't give even urgent emergency relief to the people who have been displaced owing to a sudden disaster. Sometimes Emergency regulations can also be made use to help victims after sudden disasters such as floods and landslides.

I am sure we are on the right track of moving towards governing the entire country without Emergency. The remaining regulations can also be removed shortly once all the necessary work has been done to rid the country of the terrorist menace once and for all.