News
Repatriation flights fly into controversy
Sri Lanka’s pandemic-related repatriation programme is drawing criticism on the grounds that several handpicked “agents” are selling packages (flights, PCR testing and hotel quarantine) for exorbitant amounts.
As the market is unregulated and these parties hold a monopoly, the prices are skyrocketing. There is also no guarantee of the type of hotel a returning Sri Lankan would get despite paying the same rates as the batch that flies together.
Migrant workers at Sri Lanka's Embassy in Dubai. Photos from Facebook
One woman whose son, a university student, came back from Australia recently contacted the Sunday Times after having complained in writing to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about her experience. Her son paid AUD 3,050 (Rs 403,317.55) to SriLankan Airlines (which uses its travel agency, SriLankan Holidays) for the air ticket, two PCR tests as well as transport from Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) to the hotel and hotel expenses.
This was not a charter flight arranged by a private agent, but a Government repatriation effort by the Foreign Ministry, Consulate in Melbourne with the High Commission in Canberra and SriLankan Airlines, she said. Her son was not given a choice of hotel and was accommodated for two weeks at a three-star entity in Tangalle. She feels they were overcharged at least AUD 1,571 (Rs 207,741.60).
Passengers who arrived on other flights paid for accommodation at the hotel and not in advance, she continued. His son also had no WiFi for several days and could not complete his university assignments.
There is also unhappiness about unequal treatment despite everyone paying high prices. Some returnees get accommodation in four or five-star hotels.
“The other issue is that, not only Ambassadors and High Commissioners, staff at the foreign Embassies and even foreigners who are attached to projects in Sri Lanka have been allowed to quarantine at their residence,” the woman asked. “Why is this rule not applicable to ‘brown skins’? They also do not have to follow the further 14 days at home but are allowed to go to work? Then why are Sri Lankan citizens asked to stay at home for another 14 days if the foreigners can get around? “
Another returnee from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, recorded a WhatsApp message which is now widely circulated. He was taken 250km by road to Passikuda from MRIA–a grueling journey after a long flight–and that he doesn’t know the name of the hotel. The management wanted to assign three to a room and this caused an argument as some had paid for single accommodation while others for sharing with one other.
“We got lunch at 4p.m. and just four litres of water yesterday, nothing today,” he said. “We are drinking from the tap. We are not angry but very sad and hurt that we are being treated like this in our own country. They have taken a lot of money from us. We only ask that we get suitable facilities.”
“We are also human beings,” he said, voice cracking. “We paid money with great difficulty, pawning our gold jewellery. If you give us less food and there is no water, that’s not good, isn’t it? We have suffered a lot.”
He asked for the whole process to be conducted in a more methodical, organised manner for the benefit of those who will return in future.
There are two ways now of returning to Sri Lanka. One is through flights organised via the respective foreign missions on SriLankan Airlines. The other is through charters for which there are at least two (that the Sunday Times knows of) handpicked agents.
The main one is Avant Garde Maritime Services (AGMS). Another is SriLankan Holidays. But there are also agents abroad like Trident Travel in Dubai and Naag Holidays in Australia (which charges Rs 225,000 for one-way airfare and two PCRs, according to an invoice seen by the Sunday Times).
According to flight schedules, a SriLankan flight arrived on September 23 from Malaysia with 290 passengers of which 66 paid ‘AGMS hotels’. The next day, there was a SriLankan charter to Mattala and on September 25, 241 passengers arrived from Korea on the national carrier.
On September 26, there was a SriLankan flight from Chennai, India, which included 145 Indian businessmen registered with the Board of Investment and ten Sri Lankans. AGMS accepted all passengers. Two days later, there was a charter from Oman with 290 passengers organised by AGMS and the Sri Lanka Association in Oman. And it goes on with the “bounty” shared between AGMS and SriLankan Holidays.
The wider travel agent community, including members of the IATA Agents’ Association, is frozen out. “We have 168 travel agents registered with the International Air Transport Association,” said Janath Vidanage, the union’s Vice President. “None of us are issuing tickets for these repatriation flights.”
His members are in a bad way, he said. Airlines who took money for bookings before the pandemic are yet to issue refunds. “Thai closed down and went and nobody knows what will happen,” he related. “Malaysian is not paying refunds. Oman has told us to return in one year and they will reconsider. And SriLankan is paying some, not others and not everything.”
There has been no relief from the Government, despite the sector directly and indirectly employment around 200,000 people. Representation to the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority has brought no respite.
“We could have done repatriations, definitely,” Mr Vidanage said. “There would then have been competition and, without a monopoly, prices would have been controlled.”
Members of Sri Lankan COVID-19 Task Force are aware that select agents are pushing up prices as the matter has been discussed during weekly meetings. Nothing, however, has been done to regulate the market.
There is also concern that some hotels are accommodating more than the denoted number in each room and that the “package” price is now higher to make room for commissions which are common in the industry. Airline tickets are also higher than usual, possibly to account for the aircraft travelling empty one-way. However, there is no transparency on margins.
AGMS recently took over Cinnamon Red for passengers that it is agent for, using its own security throughout the hotel. An industry source estimated that there was a profit of around Rs 100,000 per returnee. “And don’t forget that when you do bulk bookings, it’s 20 percent cheaper,” an informed source said.
“We have specifically told everyone is to charge Rs 7,500 per day for a shared room and Rs 12,500 for a single room, full board,” said Army Commander Lt Gen Shavendra Silva, who heads the National Operation Center for the Prevention of COVID-19. “We have also said not to pay upfront for the hotels. They can pay for the hotel at whatever hotel they are allocated and pay separately for the flight and PCR.”
Gen Silva encouraged people to report cases to the Task Force so they can be inquired into.
Meanwhile, Facebook groups created for workers abroad also lamented about high prices and questioned the repatriation process. There are various agents offering to issue tickets. In Dubai, the prices range from 4,565 (Rs 229,397.09) to 4,450 (Rs 223,618.19) dirham. The majority of those who want to return have no jobs, no accommodation and have difficulty finding food.
“This is like how they exploited the tsunami,” one hapless migrant has lamented.