Colombo (AsiaNews) – Remittances from Sri Lankans working abroad are the second largest source of foreign earnings for the country. Every year about 250,000 Sri Lankans go abroad in search of work, half of them domestic workers. So far this year, 348 died far from their native land. Among women migrant workers, about 10 per cent have complained to the Bureau of Foreign Employment about unpaid wages, poor communications as well as other forms of harassment.
Caritas organised a meeting last Friday, 17 December, International Migrant Day, to discuss the issue. Many important figures took part in the event, including the Apostolic Nuncio, Mgr Joseph Spiteri, External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris and Caritas national director Fr George Sigamony as well as various priests, nuns, NGO representatives and two women migrants who came home recently.
External Affairs Minister Peiris urged civic groups and religious organisations to play an active role in finding solutions to the problems faced by migrant workers. He stressed that External Affairs officials must be informed of the employment contracts Sri Lankans enter into abroad. He also urged women to seek self-employment at home before considering going abroad. He insisted that Sri Lankans must take more advantage of opportunities provided at home.
Mgr Kingsley Swampillai, bishop of Trincomalee-Batticaloa, said he was happy that the Church was involved in helping migrant workers. However, he noted the absence of any clear and precise legislation on the matter. “It is a burning issue, one that must be addressed soon to find correct solutions,” he explained.
As part of its work on behalf of Sri Lankan migrants, Caritas has prepared two brochures in English to help them. One is titled ‘Case studies on Migrants’ and the other ‘Safe Migration’, both which were presented to Minister Peiris at the meeting.
The association also made public some of the findings from a study titled ‘Recommendations on Key Issues faced by Women Migrant Domestic Workers”. The research was carried out between September and November, and involved conducting interviews with 20 respondents in six districts, namely Ampara, Anuradhapura, Colombo, Nuwaraeliya, Puttalam and Vavuniya.
The Caritas research report focused on six specific fields, namely access to information and services, training for migrant domestic workers, language, legal protection, and the services provided by the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment and Re-integration.
