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Bogus job agencies send ineligible housemaids on forged stamps, visas
On Friday a 48-year-old female from Mattakuliya, Dubai-bound as a housemaid, was arrested by the airport police at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), as her Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) registration number issued on completion of training, did not tally with the computerised data. She was produced at the Negombo Magistrates Court and released on bail.
“The ‘middle man’ who is seconded by the job agency, coordinates with the housemaid on recruitment formalities.
Sri Lankan housemaids at the BIA (file pic)
“When a housemaid is not eligible or does not meet the criteria to go to another country, she approaches a middle man who ‘doctors’ passports with forged stamps and visas enabling bogus eligibility for foreign employment,” SLBFE Deputy General Manager and Media Spokesman Mangala Randeniya told the Sunday Times.
Mr. Randeniya said that these housemaids are trained by the middle man on how to deal with the officials at the airport. Therefore, when these people are arrested, they rarely divulge information about their job agent or the middle man.”
“These ‘middle men’ don’t realise that all the data such as registration and secret numbers of all job agencies, along with personal information of the clients are stored in our computers at the airport. Hence, forged stamps can be detected easily,” he said.
Meanwhile, Association of Licensed Foreign Employment Agencies (ALFEA) Secretary M. Faizer Makeen stressed that when there is adequate space in the law, why can’t the authorities penalize the culprits?Commenting on how stamps are forged, Mr Makeen said the bogus agencies or the agent re-pastes the SLBFE stamp from the passport of another client who has already worked abroad and returned. “There are officers within the authority who support all these fraudulent activities. Therefore, only some of the forged stamps are detected, hence, the authorities should take necessary action,” he said.
“We are trying our utmost to resolve these problems, but there is no cooperation from government authorities who have implemented more restrictions, which has increased the level of corruption among the unlicensed agencies,” he said. He stressed that unlicensed agencies commit all the fraudulent activities, which ultimately tarnishes the image of the legitimate licensed agencies.
“We should bring discipline into this trade. Disciplinary control cannot be implemented by government authorities, but only by a trade body like the ALFEA, which encourages its members to practise the code of ethics.
Mr. Makeen also said that the authorities should act swiftly and take prompt action when fraudulent activities are detected. They should strictly implement the law to prevent such fraudulent activities which tarnish the country’s image. Fines of Rs100,000 and 5-years imprisonment is imposed on those found guilty under the SLBFE act.
According to the SLBFE, some 700 recruitment agencies are registered and presently operating with a licence. In the past six months, 22 persons have been remanded for forging SLBFE stamps and visas, while 66 cases are still under investigation.
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