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Lanka’s
desert storm A three member team including officials from the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment were in Kuwait recently to review the conditions in the country including relief camps that have been established. About 160,000 Sri Lankan workers are employed in Kuwait, most of them housemaids. "We have discussed some of the contingency plans. Identity cards issued by the Kuwati government would automatically become valid as passports and as a licence to enter these relief camps. All those legally in the country will be in possession of this identity card", Working Director of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau, H.A. Wimalasooriya who was a member of the delegation said. He said police stations had been turned into civil administration units with food and medical requirements to be provided. "Depending on the state of the war, preparations would be made to evacuate the workers by air, sea and land. We too have made plans for their return at this end," he assured. While arrangements to meet the emergencies of a new war are already underway, the scars of the 1990-1991 Gulf War have still not faded. Sri Lanka lost remittances from employment amounting to an estimated US $ 200 million and another US $ 300 million in the tea trade. Sri Lankans also lost their jobs for an entire year. When Saddam Hussain invaded Kuwait and the US retaliated by attacking Kuwait and Iraq, an estimated 100,000 Sri Lankan workers were working in Kuwait and another 10,000 in Iraq. Eight Sri Lankans were killed and 32 injured due to the war from August 2, 1990 to March 2, 1991. More than 12 years after the crisis there are thousands of Sri Lankan workers affected in the Gulf War yet to receive compensation. To date, 88,875 claims approved for compensation by the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) have received compensation. Others are still toiling to receive at least a fraction of what they may have lost. Some others have received part of their compensation and are awaiting the balance. Payments have been held up due to various technicalities ranging from identity problems to late registration. Some of the most common complaints was the difficulty to prove the identity and in some cases inability to establish that they had been badly affected by the sudden outbreak of war. The fact that many were outside the specified "definition" which was the primary requirement for entitlement of compensation has still left them without any relief. The definition of a worker entitled for compensation was very narrow. The three criteria given were A - those who left Iraq or Kuwait with the commencement of the war and returned to their countries before the war ended; B - those who died or sustained grave injuries directly due to the war; and C - those who lost their earnings and assets. For those in the 'A' category, a payment of US $ 4,000 was made in two installments of US $ 2,500 and US $ 1,500. Forty Sri Lankans were eligible under category B. Those who lost a family member received varying amounts ranging from US $ 5000 - US $ 10,000 depending on specific criteria such as number of family members etc. Those injured received US $ 2500. Another 4,886 were registered under category C. When the war broke out some of the employers took their maids with them when fleeing to safety, while others were reportedly locked up in their houses. Those who traveled to other countries with their employers found it difficult to establish that they were victims of the war. Some of the returnees now waging a battle for compensation say they are turned away by the SLBFE. "We go to the Bureau and at the Inquiries, they ask for details only to send us away on the grounds that our application has not been considered yet," Karunawathie Menike from Kegalle said. This was the story of several hundreds of other returnees awaiting compensation. (See separate story). Late registration was another common cause for not being considered for compensation. Although people were informed to apply for Kuwait compensation by flashing messages on the Moscow Radio service, Veritas and the BBC, some had failed to apply on time due to absence of documents required, difficulties confronted in work places or simply owing to a lack of awareness about procedures. Among the most heart rending stories are those of victims like Padmini Joseph who died during the war. Twenty-four-year-old Padmini was working in Kuwait when the war broke out. She was to travel back to Sri Lanka with her sister who was employed in the same country. But on the eve of her departure she had been stabbed. This tragedy may have occured during mass scale looting that took place as a result of the war. But the family members are not sure of that. Her mother Modesta Joseph said her young daughter had only been working in Kuwait for a year before the war broke out. “We came to learn that she had been stabbed to death,” Mrs. Joseph said sadly holding a photograph of her daughter. Padmini's family had received Rs. 125,000 as compensation and are yet to get the other half. Mary who worked in Kuwait for 18 years lamented that she has not yet received compensation for the valuables she lost during the war. "I was in London at the time of the war and I stayed there with my employers for one and a half years. We returned to Kuwait on the first flight that was operated after the war. On my return I found that I had lost all my valuables worth Rs. 150,000. My first application for compensation in 1997 received no response. In 1998 when I made another application I was told it was too late to register." Mary said she has now received a letter stating she would be entitled to Rs. 75,000. "But that is a negligible amount compared to what I lost." Many lost their earnings having invested them in purchasing electronic equipment which could not be easily carried while fleeing. Investing in gold or keeping cash on the person for purposes of safety also resulted in massive losses. Those who exchanged their money for low rates also sustained heavy losses as the Kuwaiti Dinar which was valued at about Rs. 100 was replaced by the Iraqi Dinar valuing Rs. 10. Although no Sri Lankans have been registered for employment in Iraq during the past five to seven years, and the immediate focus is on that country, there is concern of possible implications of war on neighbouring states where 850,000 Sri Lankans are employed. Who will
listen to their pleas "The agency cheated me," she charged, . "I realised that I was travelling on somebody else's passport only once I boarded the plane. The passport was given to me by the agency only at the airport and I didn't bother to check because I assumed it was mine." Somawathi's passport carries a photograph of another person, another name and another address. However, her credentials were not checked at the Sri Lankan or Kuwait airport. Relating her Kuwait saga, she said, "I was kept by force by my employers. I wasn't paid a salary or given food. They kept me for two years and seven months and after facing a lot of problems, they let me return to Sri Lanka empty handed. Somawathi had paid the agency Rs. 12,000 and spent Rs. 3000 to get her passport. "I borrowed this money and I couldn't repay it, because I wasn't given a salary. Any correspondence with my family was totally cut off by my employers. Hence my family believed that I had died during the Gulf war". An attempt to escape also proved futile as the agency in Kuwait handed her back to the employers. "I pleaded to let me go, but to no avail". Somawathi's family was making arrangements to bring her back to Sri Lanka when the war broke out. She registered herself and applied for compensation in 2000, but the false passport remained an obstacle. A mother of three, Somawathie says she now earns a meagre sum by running a small boutique in her village in Kegalle. "I am still hoping that authorities will look at my plight and pay me compensation," she said. Karunawathi Menike's problem was the delay in applying for compensation. "My employer kept my passport with her and refused to give it to me. My pleas to take me to the Sri Lankan High Commission to register for compensation was also not heeded". Karunawathi left to Jordan with her employers before the war broke out and returned to Kuwait after the situation had returned to normal hoping to come back to Sri Lanka in a matter of days. However, she says, she lost several of her valuables which she left behind in Kuwait when she went to Jordan. "I had bought some gold chains, bangles, and several household items including cutlery and crockery and electrical goods. I also left 350 Kuwaiti Dinars and all except a flask had vanished when I returned from Jordan". Karunawathi comes to the Foreign Employment Bureau once every three months, but is turned away at the inquiries counter itself on the grounds that her application has still not been processed. A mother of a seven-year-old, Karunawathi's husband is dependent on manual labour for an income. Set up a
relief fund, says ex FEB chief Mr. Soysa who is the director of Migrant Services Centre, an NGO, called for the setting up of a relief fund to meet emergencies to protect the interest of Sri Lankans living abroad. "For a country like ours where there is manpower exports, there is a need to set up a relief fund. During the last Gulf War, compensation was paid from Iraq's income from oil. What if war breaks out in a country with no oil or no major income? Therefore, when we send people out, we should have a system where we have a fund to compensate those affected in situations of political uncertainities," Mr. Soysa reiterated. Although a discussion of all countries affected by the 1990-1991 Gulf War was held to formulate a mechanism to deal with similar situations in the future, nothing transpired out of it once the situation settled down, he said. An example of not being prepared for such eventualities can be traced back to the time of the Gulf War. Not being a member of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Sri Lanka was not able to bear the costs of evacuating people. Thus the government had to pass a resolution and seek membership. He advised that employees should deposit their money in banks instead of keeping it in their possession. "Many think it's safer to keep the money with them and ultimately end up losing it all." He also emphasized the importance of protecting travel documents at all times. " Many of ther workers pay little attention to these details in the midst of the chaos to flee to safety. Sri Lankans must remain calm and act cautiously. It's not wise to invest all the earnings on buying goods that are difficult to carry at a time of war". "People should also learn to rough out and not expect luxuries. When I went to see the situation in the relief camps during the Gulf war, I inquired into the needs of Sri Lankans and their response was: 'we don't have apples and grapes here for dessert. We are used to having fruits at our work places for dessert, but here we don't get them'. "Conditions are difficult at these camps and people should learn to cope with these difficulties instead of asking for the impossible". More compensation
soon He said about 1750 victims would get compensation of about Rs. 400,000 each but many more would still need to be paid. He said the compensation was being paid to those whose claims had been rejected earlier because the information given was insufficient. |
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
With tens of thousands of US and British troops positioning
themselves in the Gulf raising tension over the possibility of a
war with Iraq, families of Sri Lankans working in the Gulf region
are concerned. The government too is looking at contingency plans
for the safety of an estimated 850,000 migrant workers.
