Meeting to better manage labour migration

The third Senior Officials' Meeting of the Colombo Process, an 11-member regional consultative process on the management of overseas employment and contractual labour, will be held in Colombo on November 4 and 5. Sri Lanka is the current chair of the Colombo Process.

According the Colombo Process Chairperson and Minister of Foreign Employment, Thalatha Atukorale, emphasis at the Meeting will be on seeking new and immediately implemental measures to achieve a well managed labour migration process.

Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Employment, G. S. Withanage said labour migration said although significant progress had been made in managing migration in the last decade, member countries are still faced with issues and challenges of exploitation and malpractices in labour migration process. "This means that we all have an unfinished agenda in achieving the ideal scenario for labour migration," he said.

He added the Meeting would enable officials to take the countries several steps closer in establishing a more effective migration management system to protect the labour migrants.

The Colombo Process established in 2003 evolved from the Ministerial Consultation for Asian Labour Sending Countries.

In its first meeting, which was held in Colombo, participant countries agreed on several recommendations to effectively manage overseas employment programs ensuring safe migration and protection of rights.

Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam were the ten initial participants of the Colombo process to which Afghanistan joined later.

It has eight observer countries, which are the main labour receiving countries and several international organisations, including the International Labour Organisation and International Organisation for Migration as participants.

- DY