The foreign employment sector is still the largest foreign exchange earner of the country. On an average, 250,000 persons annually migrate to foreign countries seeking better employment. Of the total number of Sri Lankans working abroad over 90% are employed in Middle Eastern countries, according to the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment. Commenting on […]
The Government recently passed a regulation further tightening the current selection criteria imposed on women seeking foreign employment. According to the Government, the motive here is to discourage women from seeking foreign employment as domestic workers or caregivers. Alternatively, the Government is promoting more professionals to seek foreign employment through a Government controlled system. Even […]
Unlike other countries in West Asia, Jordan lacks petrodollars. In 1996, an agreement with the US gave the country preferential duty-free and quota-free access to the American market. This was the first such agreement the US ever had with an Arab nation and saw the establishment of Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ) – essentially, industrial zones created […]
The 2014 South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit took an initiative on the issue of migrant labour. It sought to ensure safety, security, and wellbeing of their migrant workers in the destination countries outside the SAARC region. This was to be done with the help of international bodies such as the International Labour […]
Incidents of human smuggling in Sri Lanka took a new dimension, with the detection of three women who attempted to leave the country disguised as members of the Salvation Army. The culprit behind the scam is allegedly an unscrupulous labour recruitment sub agent, who is still at large. The three women, from Nuwara Eliya and […]
Subsequent to the introduction of a new initiative, no Sri Lankan boat carrying undocumented persons have reached Australia, says Major General Andrew Bottrell, Commander of Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB), the military- led border security initiative of the Australian Government. During his visit to Sri Lanka last week, OSB Commander in his single English language interview […]
I never thought my tears would stop. I have cried for years and months and days, unable to understand why there were so many trials in my young life. My tears cease only when I work. I have suffered so much that for me, suffering symbolises life. Yet, as the darkest night discovers its own […]
New research on the mental health of family members of migrant workers ‘left behind’ in Sri Lanka has shown the high prevalence of Common Mental Disorders (CMD) in spouses and non-spouse caregivers, reflecting the flagging mental health among these two categories of people as a direct result of the economic choices made by family members.
In early June, Nepali authorities announced that they would not issue work permits to outbound workers if employers did not bear the cost for visa and air ticket. The Ministry of Labor and Employment (MoLE) maintained that the provision was meant to prevent economic exploitation of workers in the name of recruitment fee and eventually […]
When everything is a commodity, labour rights count little, says Josiah Mortimer. There’s a war going on in Asia – and it’s one that, unlike ISIS in Iraq or the chaos in Syria, is failing to make the headlines. It’s the war on workers that is taking place across much of the continent, according to […]