Housemaids told not to take up foreign jobs

by Ananda KANNANGARA

Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister Dilan Perera, said that Sri Lankan housemaids should be discouraged from working abroad considering the harassment they face from foreign employers and recruitment agents. Minister Perera told the Sunday Observer that during his four-day tour in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last week he had met a large number of Sri Lankan housemaids and discussed their employment problems.

He said that their employment abroad could create more problems in the future.

"We receive around 35 to 40 complaints every month from housemaids in the UAE and this is lower than the number of complaints being received from other countries in the region".

According to statistics, there are over 250,000 Sri Lankan workers in the UAE and of them over 120,000 are employed as housemaids. Last year, 11,285 housemaids, 9,328 and 13,231 skilled and unskilled workers and 763 persons found employment in the professional jobs category in the UAE.

Minister Perera said that his Ministry increased the minimum age from 18 to 21 recently and this age limit would be further increased to protect housemaids leaving the country for foreign jobs.