Discrimination against domestic workers
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What a hare-brained scheme – the plan to bar Sri Lankan domestic workers from going abroad if they have failed to send remittances through official channels on a previous term of employment! This is what my friend, ‘human resource’ pundit H.R. Perera, popularly known as HR, was referring to when we spoke on Thursday morning.Thankfully, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara resigned earlier this week, for, his rash proposal would have triggered many fundamental rights petitions if the authorities went through with the plan.
According to the proposal, “the amount of dollars sent through legitimate channels to the country during that person’s previous overseas employment would be taken into consideration and laws would be amended to grant only those who have legitimately sent remittances back to the country such eligibility to go overseas for employment”.
“What a hare-brained idea,” exclaimed HR. “Who is advising these ministers? This is unfair and sure to backfire,” he said.
“Absolutely, you cannot stop anyone from travelling abroad for work, vacation or business. That is a violation of the Constitution on a citizen’s right to travel unless, of course, that individual has been barred by a court from travelling by impounding his or her passport due to a pending criminal case,” I said.
Yes, remittances are dropping sharply but that’s no reason for depriving an individual’s right and liberty to travel overseas, said HR. Whether this scheme was discussed with the Central Bank or not remains to be seen.
According to the latest figures of worker remittances, a sum of US$274.3 million was remitted last month by workers, down from $478.4 million in June 2021, while the cumulative January-June 2022 figure of $1,609.9 million was a 51 per cent drop from $3,324.4 million recorded in the same 2021 period. Ever since a vibrant market emerged in the unofficial dollar rate, the level of remittances has dropped in 2021 to $5.2 billion from $6.2 billion in 2020.
The Central Bank’s annual report for 2021 said a notable recovery in remittances is expected in 2022 with the sharp depreciation in the exchange rate since March 2022, together with the increasing number of migrant workers leaving for foreign employment. But as of June 2022, the figures of remittances through official channels are still low and unlikely to reach 2021 levels.
The authorities and the Central Bank have been grappling with the dilemma of falling remittances as workers prefer to send money back home through informal or unofficial channels described as Undiyal or Hawala. The more than 50 per cent drop in remittances means this amount was sent to families and relatives in Sri Lanka through informal channels which still offer a slightly higher rate of exchange. Currently, the US dollar is trading at Rs. 366-Rs. 368 per 1 dollar, while in the unofficial market it’s between Rs. 20 to Rs. 40 more per dollar depending on the quantum of money traded.
The authorities in March 2022 allowed the rupee to float from a holding level of Rs. 230 per dollar. It has then rapidly risen to over Rs. 360 per dollar in the past three months.
While the plan to deprive workers of going abroad – if they are found to have avoided sending money through official channels from a previous term of employment – was bad news in the migration trail, there was also good news for this sector.
The Cabinet, last month on a proposal by Minister Nanayakkara, decided to partially lift the compulsory requirement of the Family Background Report (FBR), helping more female migration for overseas employment.
Earlier the FBR barred females with children under five years from going abroad which led to many abuses of this provision. Many, in desperation, used unofficial ways of getting the FBR from local officials.
The new decision allows females with children over two or more years to go abroad but still bars females with children below two years to migrate for employment.
This move was welcomed by rights activists. Dr. Bilesha Weeraratne, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies and one of Sri Lanka’s foremost researchers on migration, said the decision was long overdue and a welcome move to promote female labour migration from the country. The discriminatory FBR policy was introduced in June 2013 in order to restrict females with children under the age of five and to discourage females with older children from taking up foreign employment.
The FBR initially covered only female domestic worker departures, but in August 2015, this was expanded to cover all females. As a result, from 2013 onwards the dominance of women among worker departures declined significantly, she added.
The FBR has also drawn criticism from international human rights groups highlighting its discriminatory practices.
In a welcome move, the authorities reduced the minimum age of employment for female domestic workers to 21 years in all countries. Earlier the minimum age for domestics in Saudi Arabia was 25 years, 23 years in other West Asian countries and 21 years outside West Asia.
Meanwhile, local foreign job agencies complained that prospective foreign job seekers are forced to pay an exorbitant sum of money for compulsory medical check-ups at authorised local medical centres. The rate for these services has doubled to Rs. 38,000 from Rs. 18,000, two months ago.
As I pondered on these issues, taking a breather and walking to the kitchen to pick up breakfast, my attention was drawn to the margosa tree where the trio was having a heated conversation on the country’s political crisis.
“Eih Ranil thaama balaye inne. Aragalayata ona wune ne Gotabaya saha Ranil dennatama aswenna (Why is Ranil still continuing in power? Didn’t the aragalaya want both Gotabaya and Ranil to resign),” asked Kussi Amma Sera.
“Namuth Ranil aswunoth, prashna ethi wewi-ne aanduwe (But if Ranil also resigned, won’t there be a problem in the government),” asked Serapina.
“Me okkoma aswune neththam, rata yanne loku vyasanayakata (All these fellows should resign if not the country will be heading towards a major disaster),” echoed Mabel Rasthiyadu.
As I walked back to the office room to complete my column, my thoughts were on the thousands of people standing in fuel queues and those having just one meal a day. According to how the crisis is panning out, their plight, it appears, is not going to be resolved in the next coming weeks.
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