No labour and welfare units in overseas missions for biggest foreign exchange earners

Govt. to shut down these sections in Sri Lanka's foreign missions in 14 countries as cost-cutting measure Foreign Relations Ministry will take over the task of looking after more than 1.6 million migrant workers

As an urgent cost- cutting measure, the Labour Ministry has decided to shut down labour and welfare sections in Sri Lankan missions overseas, including the West Asian region, and recall the staff.

Labour Ministry Secretary U. K. Mapa Pathirana told the Sunday

Times the Labour sections were being shut down on a government directive to cut down expenses.

“Maintaining these labour sections in overseas missions is not profitable to the

Government,” Mr Pathirana explained.

He said the decision would be effective in all 14 countries where labour sections had been set up to look into the welfare and the needs of Lankan migrant workers.

The move comes despite last year’s foreign exchange ear nings from foreign employment standing at US$ 6.8 billion -- one of the highest foreign exchange earners.

The labour sections have been set up in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, South Korea,

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Singapore and Japan where some 160 officials are employed.

Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva summoned a meeting of officials this week at the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB) and explained the move to shut down the labour offices claiming that the government was spending more than Rs 900 million annually to maintain them.

The minister said the Government had decided to hand over to the Foreign Relations Ministry the responsibility of looking after the welfare of migrant workers.

However, Foreign Employment State Minister Priyankara Jayaratne was not present when the Minister explained the decision to the officials.

“We were not consulted by the Ministry, but we will have to abide by the directive as it is a government decision, SLFEB spokesman Mangala Randeniya told the Sunday Times.

The moves came as the SLFEB completed the training sessions for labour officers due to take up appointments in overseas missions to replace officers who will be completing their two-year term.

Separate labour sections were set up on a proposal made by the then Labour Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa during the Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga administration in 1994 after allegations that migrant workers' issued were not being properly addressed by

Sri Lanka's foreign missions.

In the 14 foreign missions, the labour sections were in charge of maintaining safe houses for affected migrant workers, addressing their labour issues, obtaining insurance claims and compensation in case of deaths or accidents.

Subsequently, the SLFEB started a separate fund to spend on welfare matters of migrant workers.

Last year, of some 203,000 Sri Lankans who went overseas for jobs, more than 150,000 went to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE.

At present, more than 1.6 million Lankan workers are employed overseas and of them more than one million are in West Asian countries.