Over 2,000 Lankans repatriated from Saudi

The Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia had facilitated the repatriation of more than 2,000 runaway employees up to July this year, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson told the Sunday Observer.

"Most of these runaway workers belong to the unskilled category," he said.

They escape from their employers due to ill-treatment or when found that they had been duped by unscrupulous job agents and come to the Sri Lankan Mission seeking help for repatriation.As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remains the largest 'unskilled and semi-skilled labour' importing country, ahead of Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE.

A total of 56,000 workers have left for Saudi Arabia during the past 10 months up to October 2010 and currently there are over 250,000 Lankan employees scattered throughout the country. Of them, unskilled domestic helpers account for 125,000, the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau Chairman said. - MF