Demand for passports up as people keen to work overseas
DEMAND for passports has shot up in Sri Lanka as its citizens look for opportunities abroad with the country wilting under an economic crisis.
In the first five months of 2022, Sri Lanka has issued 288,645 passports compared with 91,331 in the same period last year, according to government data. The government is keen to support more people hoping to work abroad to boost remittances, which have halved in recent months, according to central bank data.
Inside the Immigration and Emigration Department, where people pack counters for hours to get their photos and fingerprints taken, a senior official said the 160 members of staff were exhausted trying to meet demand for passports.
The department has tightened security, expanded working hours, and tripled the number of passports it issues but at least 3,000 people are dropping off forms every day, said HP Chandralal, who oversees the authorisation of most applications.
The online application system is backlogged for months and many new applicants can’t get necessary appointments.
“It is very difficult dealing with the people because they are frustrated and do not understand that the system is not equipped to deal with this kind of demand,” said Chandralal. “So they get angry and blame us but there is nothing we can do.”
The urgency for many people aiming to leave was compounded recently by a warning from prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that a food crisis is only months away.
A garment worker, 33-year-old RMR Lenora decided to apply for a job as a maid in Kuwait after her husband was laid off from a small restaurant where he worked as a cook. “My husband lost his job because there is no cooking gas and food costs have skyrocketed. It is very hard to find work and the salaries are very low,” said Lenora, who said she earns about 2,500 Sri Lanka rupees (£5.66) a day. “With two children that is impossible.”
Last week, carrying a change of clothes and an umbrella to fend off a blistering sun, she boarded a train from the town of Nuwara Eliya, in Sri Lanka’s central hills, and travelled 170 km to the commercial capital, Colombo, to hand in her papers for her first passport. In the queue, Lenora was joined by labourers, shop owners, farmers, public servants and housewives, some of who camped out overnight, all looking to escape Sri Lanka’s worst financial crisis in seven decades.
Lenora is determined to do what she can for a better life. “I want to spend two years in Kuwait then I’m sure I can save enough to come back,” she said.