Brain drain and migration

So, finally the politicians have woken up to the brain drain issue with a debate on the topic scheduled to be held in Parliament next week. This would be an interesting one since it would point the direction on how the government would be managing the economy in the coming years in the absence of the required number amidst thousands of departing skilled workers. The exact number of the flight of human capital is also expected to emerge at this discussion. However we should not attach too much significance to such discussions as they invariably turn into shouting matches by politicians with no serious substance on the topic.

The government has been rather coy over the reality that hundreds of doctors and now even Ayurvedic medicine doctors, bankers, accountants and other professionals are joining the mass exodus of unskilled workers seeking jobs abroad connected to the dismal economic conditions at home.

Rather than address this issue from a humanitarian point of view, the authorities are imposing all kinds of restrictions on, for example, doctors who are returning from abroad after seeking higher qualifications and then quitting their posts for better prospects overseas. The government is acting tough when it should approach the issue in a conciliatory fashion and address the crisis with a human face.

While the economic recovery is ongoing with a visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation which visited Sri Lanka this week for talks leading to the disbursement of a second tranche of the US$ 2.9 billion bailout package, saying that approval of this tranche is subject to approval of the fund’s executive board, the situation at home is still disturbing and resulting in the exodus of workers.

Even though inflation has been sharply reduced, prices of essentials still remain at last year’s high or even more making it difficult for families (many with a single income) to survive the crisis. The queues may have ended at the fuel pump or at cooking gas outlets or pharmacies, but it’s more to do with the lack of cash in hand rather than the shortage. While the queues have ended and inflation is down the common man on the street is clueless about inflation trends and is only concerned about where the next meal would come from. That’s the price we are paying for utter mismanagement of the economy in the past few years, starting with the generous tax concessions which hugely helped the private sector and individual taxpayers and led to a gaping hole in tax revenue coupled with the ban on chemical fertiliser.

To combat falling tax revenue, the authorities this year hiked the tax rates resulting in many workers suffering with a meagre monthly income and many professionals including IT workers joining the ranks of those going abroad with confirmed jobs in hand.

On the foreign revenue front, the number of tourists is increasing and has hit the 1 million arrivals figure this week. Migrant worker remittances are also on the rise with earnings of $3,862.7 million during January-August 2023 compared to $2,214.8 million in January-August 2022, resulting in a 74.4 per cent year on year rise. The remittances for the month of August 2023 were $499.2 million compared with $325.4 million in the same 2022 month.

The plight of Sri Lankan unskilled migrant workers, often forced to work under harsh conditions, continues but the authorities seem to be moving in the right direction though rather belatedly. Irregular working hours, harassment in the workplace, assault, non-payment of dues and insufficient food and being overworked are some of the issues that female domestic workers face in homes in West Asia.

But that hasn’t stopped thousands of workers – this year so far, more than 300,000 unskilled workers have gone abroad – seeking employment overseas while, as the statistics show, sending large sums of money through official banking channels. Last year’s economic crisis saw a drop in remittances through official channels with a large segment of the remittances coming through unofficial channels. That has changed.

Recently the authorities responded positively to a plea by a female domestic worker in Kuwait who was stranded after she was refused employment in the assigned house. After her case was highlighted by newspapers, this mother of three children was helped with a ticket to return and be reunited with her family. She had been staying in a room of the overseas employment agency for more than a month without a job.

On the flip side and negativity, a housemaid has alleged in a complaint to a local police station that she was beaten and forced to swallow nails. She returned to Sri Lanka with the help of our embassy in Saudi Arabia. These are no rare occasions of ill-treatment as such harassment has continued over the years and despite being aware of the dangers and uncertainty overseas, women are going in their hundreds as domestic workers.

Another problem resulting from the economic crisis is that a number of skilled workers have flown to places like Dubai and the United Arab Emirates on visit visas in the hope that they would find a job there. Many have been unable to find a job and are struggling, due to lack of funds, to return to Sri Lanka.

Recently the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment issued new regulations for women with children who are seeking foreign employment.

The bureau said that women with children between the ages of 2-18 years will be required to submit a document issued by their relevant Divisional Secretariat specifying guarantees by guardians about their children’s safety and education arrangements. Women with children under the age of two years are barred from overseas employment.

A debate is emerging as to whether Sri Lanka can afford a situation where it relies on the remittances of Sri Lankan domestic workers, some of whom work in slave-like conditions overseas. This is not something that Sri Lanka should be proud of, but rather ashamed of, as mothers have to leave their homes and be separated from the families.

Having been engrossed in this week’s column and completely sidetracked, I forgot to ‘tune’ into the conversation of the trio but learnt later that they didn’t meet due to the rainy conditions at home.

As I wound up my column Kussi Amma Sera walked into the room with my mug of tea saying: “Hariyata wahinawa

(It’s raining heavily).” I acknowledged her comment and realised that come sun or rain, Sri Lanka’s marginalised women would take the overseas route to a job to feed their families back home.