ALFEA perturbed over foreign employment 'sub-agents'

by Ananda KANNANGARA

The Association of Licensed Foreign Employment Agencies (ALFEA) expressed concern over a recent report, published in a newspaper in Riyadh about a Sri Lankan girl, a resident of Batticaloa who had been allegedly sold to a Saudi Arabian employer as a sex slave by a sub-agent attached to a local foreign employment agency.

According to the ALFEA, many Arab nationals frequently visit Sri Lanka for the recruitment of female domestic workers to be employed in Saudi Arabia on an individual basis.

They are mostly catered to by trishaw drivers working as sub-agents who operate around hotels in the city.

Secretary, ALFEA, M. Faizer Mackeen told the Sunday Observer that these trishaw drivers charge commissions from Arabian clients to find domestic workers, taking them from Colombo to suburban areas and outstation destinations.

"The clients also promise employment in Saudi Arabia on an individual basis and without the medium of foreign employment agents," he said.

Referring to the story of the girl from Batticaloa, Mackeen said incidents of this nature have caused much concern among genuine operators in the industry who are legally registered with the ALFEA. He said these sub-agents are not registered with any of the ALFEA's 300-plus agencies and nobody could take them to task when something goes wrong.

The ALFEA Secretary appealed to officials to monitor these 'sub-agents' since their actions will bring disrepute on the industry which is the leading foreign exchange earner to the country.

The sub-agents'operations could be streamlined by providing them with identification and by making it compulsory for them to operate through a single ALFEA agent, so that there will be some accountability in the case of such incidents.