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Rizana: Aftermath betrays Government’s doublespeak
View(s):From the sidelines By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya
The disturbing episode of the beheading of Sri Lankan maid Rizana Nafeek in Saudi Arabia, over an incredible charge of murdering an infant, has led to a multiplicity of statements from government representatives.
While utterances from officialdom seem to be part of a damage control exercise, the intense media focus on the issue has also brought to light the views of activists and concerned citizens who are appalled at the incident.
The words and deeds of government representatives reflect not just a lack of coordinated policy, but a complete disconnect in government machinery relating to migrant labour and foreign employment. These issues involve a chain of authority that includes the Ministry of External Affairs, the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), job agents and Sri Lanka embassies abroad. Here are some of the more glaring contradictions that came to light in the past week, indicating that ‘the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing’:
It was reported in the Daily Mirror of 14.01.13 that an Advisor to a Saudi princess had sent a sum of one million rupees to Rizana’s family. This was reportedly accepted on behalf of the bereaved family by Deputy Minister M.L.A.M. Hisbulla in Kattankudi, Batticaloa, in the presence of a number of other government officials. On Tuesday (15) Foreign Employment Minister Dilan Perera called in during a Derana TV programme titled ‘Wada Pitiya,’ which was on the topic of Rizana’s execution. He rejected the offer saying “We don’t want any Saudi prince’s money. We will build a house for Rizana’s family.”
Ministry of External Affairs Spokesman Rodney Perera was unable to clarify whether this was a ‘compensation payment’ of an official nature, originating from Saudi authorities. Nor was he able to explain why a government minister had accepted it, in view of the displeasure expressed by the Government in relation to the execution. According to Perera the ministry was trying to get a clarification from the embassy as to where this money came from. “We too read about it in the media,” he said. Asked if Hisbulla had delivered the money to the family he said the ministry had to check on that too.
Meanwhile Rizana’s uncle A.A. Mujeeb in Trincomalee confirmed to Sunday Times on Friday (18) that this payment that had reportedly been accepted by Minister Hisbulla on Saturday (12), had not yet been given to the family. He added that Rizana’s mother would refuse any Saudi assistance anyway. Mr Hisbulla could not be reached for comment.
Priyantha Weerasekera, a representative of the SLBFE which comes under the purview of the External Affairs ministry, revealed during the Derana programme that bodies of 356 migrant workers who died overseas had been brought home in 2011. Most of them were from Saudi Arabia. Eighty per cent died of ‘natural causes,’ 10 per cent in accidents, and the rest were suicides, homicides or executions he said. Around 10 Sri Lankans are sentenced to death and executed each year.
These kinds of statistics are not new or surprising. What is surprising is that the numbers have not been a source of concern to Foreign Employment authorities all these years. For instance is it credible that the majority of deaths were owing to ‘natural causes?’ Those who leave the country for employment in West Asia are typically not the aged or the sick, but the young and able bodied. Shouldn’t the reasons for an average death rate of almost one per day have been investigated long ago?
The SLBFE accepts the host country’s medical report as to the cause of death, unless relatives at the airport demand a post mortem, in which case the Bureau accepts the judicial report, according to Weerasekera. “We forward the local report to the Saudis,” he told Sunday Times. “But whether they accept it or not is a diplomatic matter …that I cannot answer.”
Statements made by Dilan Perera suggest that there was nothing the Government could do to save Rizana in the context of the prevailing Sharia law, which he said the Saudis treated as ‘God’s law.’ However, Riaz Sally, Trustee of the Devatagaha mosque, said on Derana that Sharia law and the Saudi law were different. The question arises as to why there appears to be no consultation between government authorities promoting foreign employment, and non-political Muslim leaders in Sri Lanka who are familiar with conditions in the West Asian host countries. Wouldn’t their input help to clear misconceptions that lead to innumerable difficulties faced by migrant workers?
In the aftermath of Rizana’s tragedy, government spokesmen have expressed intentions to introduce various new measures. They include stricter age-verification of job applicants, raising the minimum age for housemaids to 25, and better training. The intention to reduce the numbers of women migrants and to eventually put an end to worker migration altogether, were also mentioned. However, a representative of a women’s rights organisation told Derana that the Government has said it plans to reach a target income of Rs 10 billion a year from worker remittances. This contradicts the professed goal of reducing numbers of migrant workers. If the Government is sincere in its stated objective, shouldn’t it be making strenuous efforts to increase job opportunities locally?
The public discussions so far indicate the government proposals are of a cosmetic nature and in fact sidestep the core issues relating to the safety and dignity of Sri Lanka’s migrant labour force. Labour rights activists have long argued that West Asian migrants should have the benefit of an agreement with their employer that protects their basic rights. At present they sign a document that allows Saudi law to ultimately prevail in the event of a dispute, according to Suraj Dandeniya, former president of the Foreign Employment Agents Association, who spoke on ‘Wada Pitiya.’
Weerasekera says that legal assistance is now available to West Asian migrants. Is it not strange that so few seem to have been able to avail themselves of it? A sentence tucked away at the end of a chapter about the SLBFE on its s website says “Labour attaches arrange necessary legal services for migrant workers at no charge, and arrange for their safe return to Sri Lanka. Really?
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