On the migration trail

Enter Romania. This country in Eastern Europe is the latest source market for jobs for Sri Lankans. While the recruitment fees for a job in Romania can vary from Rs. 500,000 to Rs. 1 million, there are reports that Romania has also become a stepping stone to Italy as the final destination.

“I am told it costs Rs. 1 million for a job in Romania and another Rs. 1-1.5 million to sneak into Italy,” said a participant at a recent discussion on migration trends organised by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS).

According to media reports, the number of Sri Lankans employed by Romanian companies is nearly 10,000 and they are mostly skilled and semi-skilled workers in various sectors. According to Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment records, there are at least about 5,000 vacancies for Sri Lankan workers in Romania.

Outbound migration for work mostly in West Asia and a few European countries is both a boon and a headache to the authorities. It’s a boon as it brings in much needed foreign remittances to fill the gap between import costs and export (including services’) income. On the other hand, it could be a headache since many workers face difficulties in these countries, particularly in West Asia where domestic workers complain of harassment in the workplace, non-payment of wages or other problems. Most of the dissatisfied workers have left their workplace and stay in embassy safe houses until they are repatriated to

Sri Lanka, often after not receiving their full dues.

As I was progressing on a very interesting topic this Thursday morning, the home phone rang. It was my jollymood economist friend, Sammiya (short for Samson), who was calling this morning.

“Hello…..I was thinking of you when I read a report in a newspaper about migrant workers,” he said. “That’s interesting because my topic of discussion today is about migrant workers,” I said. “The newspapers were saying that there are 1,000 jobs available for Sri Lankans in Israel,” he said.

“Yes, but it would be tricky sending workers to a war-affected country,” I said, adding that maybe these jobs would still be available if, and when, the war between Israel and the Hamas in Palestine ends or gradually eases.

To put the migration of Sri Lankan workers in some perspective, here are figures of the number of workers recruited from Sri Lanka in 2022: A total of 311,056 found jobs mostly in West Asia last year. They comprised (males) 186,965 (60.11 per cent of the total) and (females) 124,091 (39.89 per cent). From 1993 to 1999, 70 per cent of the migrants were women and that has dropped to below 40 per cent now even though the population has a higher percentage of females.

At this point, I was drawn by the margosa tree-conversation by the trio. “Magey yaluwek visit visa aragena Dubai gihin thamath rassawak hoyanawa (One of my friends who went with a visit visa to Dubai is still looking for a job),” said Serapina.

“Harima bayanakai pita rata yanna rassawak nethuwa. Eh ratawala athara-man wenna puluwan. Ethakota Lankawe embassiya wediya udaw karanne nae, mokada visit visa aran nae gihilla thiyenne (It is dangerous to go abroad without a proper job. You get stranded and the Sri Lankan embassy also doesn’t help too much with those who travel on visit visas),” noted Kussi Amma Sera.

“Harima avasanawanthai, mokada mama danna godak kattiya ehema gihilla, loku salliyak gevala thiyenawa rassawak hoyaganna (It is unfortunate because I know of many workers who have gone on visit visas and have to pay a lot of money to secure a job),” said Mabel Rasthiyadu.

Back to the discussion on safe migration organised by IPS. Here is some of the information that was shared:

■ Students going abroad for studies should be considered as seeking permanent migration as their main purpose of studies is to eventually settle down there. This is not spoken of in the permanent migration status. They study and seek a job, then take their family across – particularly in Australia.

■ In January to August 2023, 15,000 student visas were issued to Australia while around 5,000 British visas were issued to students. Sri Lanka has the highest per capita of the numbers going abroad for education purposes. These migrants – who eventually seek to permanently reside in those countries – and those professional migrants, don’t contribute to the remittance flows as their families are with them.

■ It is only unskilled and low skilled workers who are remitting money to this country and keeping the economy afloat. In this context, are we treating our migrant workers who contribute to the economy, fairly and decently?

■ Sources at the new Office of Overseas Sri Lankan Affairs (OOSLA) which has been established in the President’s Office say there are more than 3 million Sri Lankans abroad of which 1.5-1.8 million are labour migrants and the rest are resident abroad with some having dual citizenship and/or citizens of that country. This office is trying to see how best they could tap into the skills base of overseas Sri Lankans and how they could contribute to their motherland.

■ Another issue is the high cost for migrant workers of compulsory medical certificates at Rs. 36,000 per person from accredited medical units - when the private sector would charge only about Rs. 5,000 for the same certificate particularly for males, as this cost for female domestics is covered by the recruiting agency.

According to ALFEA (the association representing job agents), there is a demand for more skilled workers in West Asia which Sri Lanka is unable to cope with. “There is a demand for skilled workers in those countries,” an ALFEA official said. There are lots of jobs in the hospitality sector in Dubai but not enough trained workers here, particularly those able to speak in English.

However, he pointed out that West Asian recruitment agencies have increased focus on Africa as a labour source and this could be a challenge for Sri Lanka as a source market for workers.

It was also pointed out that the amendments to the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment Act are being finalised and a draft would be ready soon. These much-needed amendments have been in the works for decades. It is vital to finalise them as early as possible since the situation has changed drastically from the time the law was enacted in 1985. This law regulates the business of foreign employment agencies and recruiting Sri Lankans for employment outside Sri Lanka with compulsory registration for those seeking jobs abroad.

It was time to wind up my column with a plea to the authorities to expedite the amendments to the foreign employment law to ensure it covers modern trends in migration. It was also time to unwind with my second mug of tea brought by