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Italian jobs: Deep sea and the devil The job prospectors were told that the jobs would be made available to them through their MPs. Each MP is reported to have been given three to five jobs from the quota. Reportedly the Kalu-tara electorate was one of the more fortunate ones. The Italian job seekers then tried to approach their MPs. But the catchers of some MPs are alleged to have demanded an unofficial payment varying from Rs. 100,000 to Rs. 600,000. But the job seekers did not mind it as they were assured that the jobs were theirs and they would be sent to Italy before end of March - the deadline for Sri Lanka to find the 1000 jobs in Italy for 2002. When the Italian government made the offer in November, the deadline to find the jobs was December 31. Since it was unrealistic, the Sri Lankan government obtained a March-31st deadline. Under the agreement, it is upto the Sri Lanka government to hunt for the jobs in Italy and send in the suitable people through the proper channel. The job seekers who were recommended by their MPs were then called for a series of interviews and their names were included in a final list, which was to be approved by a ministry official. After weeks of anxious moments and spending hours at the Labour Ministry - some have even waited till late into the night to meet the minister - the first batch was called for a 'training programme'. They were told to pay Rs. 7,500 to the FEB. Unlike the earlier payment, this time, they received a receipt. Assured that within weeks, if not days, they would be air borne to Italy, some of them quit their jobs to undergo the training as the training course was conducted in Colombo on three weekdays. Those from outstations got themselves boarded in Colombo to attend these sessions. The training was aimed at giving them a basic knowledge of the Italian language and developing the necessary skills required for the jobs. The training went on for weeks, but the job seekers learned little. One of the main obstacles was that two of three trainers were Italians who spoke no Sinhala. At the end of the training, the job seekers faced a test. They were told that if they failed the test, they would not be sent to Italy. But those faced the test told The Sunday Times that the whole exercise was a sham with supervisors taking money from the job seekers and allowing them to copy. None failed the test. The first batch, which included some 300 candidates, was assured that they would be sent to Italy within the 'next few weeks'. That was early this year. Nearly six months have passed, but they are still awaiting the Italian job. "We got desperate. When a candidate inquired from a Ministry official, he was warned that his name would be deleted from the list, which had been placed on the internet. But we later found that it had nothing to do with the internet. Because we feared that we would lose the job opportunity, we did not challenge the lady officer," one of the applicants who did not want to be named said. The 1000 job quota was issued to Sri Lanka after the Italian government expressed concern over the increasing number of Sri Lankan illegal immigrants. Late last year Sri Lanka was placed among the 'black listed countries' along with Moldavia, Morocco, Nigeria and Egypt. The countries in this category are given an official quota upto 25,000 jobs under formal agreements. The countries concerned are required, under the agreement, to take effective steps to crack down on illegal migration. Under this policy of the Italian government, Sri Lanka was also given a quota of 1000 jobs in 2002 with a December 31 deadline, which was later extended to March 31. In the process the Labour ministry hurriedly launched a programme to collect applications from the prospective job seekers. But as the March 31 deadline passed the persons trained had not been able to secure any jobs in Italy. The Sunday Times learns that the Labour Ministry or the FEB had not been able to secure the required jobs. The man assigned to hunt for these jobs is a Pradeshiya Sabha member from the Kalutara district. He has been given the post of 'labour attaché of our mission in Italy. Questions are being raised as to the ability of this person to do the job required of him. He has now been assigned a translator to help him in the task. With Sri Lanka failing to meet the March 31 deadline, it has been extended till August. But whether the Labour ministry and the FEB could meet the deadline remains a question. Minister Samarasinghe along with FEB Chairman Susantha Fernando were reported to be in Italy last week looking for job opportunities. FEB's Working Director H.W. Wimalasuriya said he could not comment on the issue.FEB's Deputy Additional General Manager R. Wijegunawardena said the recruitment was handled by the Ministry and declined to comment further. Mallika Joseph, Personal Assistant to the Minister, told The Sunday Times on Friday, "We cannot tell when the jobs will be available. We will have to wait until the minister returns. He is due next Tuesday." Earlier on Friday Ms. Joseph told one of the applicants: "It may take few weeks or few months. You will have to wait and see." Some of the candidates have been making regular inquiries from outstations over the telephone while some others have been calling over at the Ministry in the hope of getting a positive response.The candidates say the failure of the ministry to secure the 1000 jobs shows the inefficiency of the officials. "We do not want to enter Italy illegally because we are aware of the risk of losing large sums of money if we are detected at mid-sea. But it now appears, the same risk exists even in the official process," one applicant said. He said that among the candidates were graduates who know they would end up in a hotel or a factory. "We are still hopeful and expect that the government will take serious note of our problem," the applicant said. Lanka:
A major transit point in migration racket The sleuths are questioning the men arrested from three guesthouses in Krinda, Weerawila and Yodhakandiya in the southern coastal area to ascertain details of the racket and find the local racketeers involved in it. A four-member CID team raided the guesthouses on Thursday midnight while the local police station was unaware about the presence of the foreign nationals who were waiting to board a ship that would take them to a European destination, probably Italy. CID Chief SSP Sisira Mendis had directed the raid in co-ordination with the head of the Anti-Human Smuggling Investigations Bureau, SSP D.S.Y Samaratunga under the supervision of DIG CID, Lionel Gunatillake. The Indians and Pakistanis had arrived in batches and then believed to have been dirven in tourist coaches to the upcountry and then brought to the guesthouses in the south 12 days before they were arrested. At least 30 persons did not have their passports with them as the local agents had reportedly taken them. On arrival in Sri Lanka, each of them had paid Rs. 300,000 to the local agents. However, some of them had not been given meals for two days in the guesthouses as the local agents had not paid them. The CID believes that they were gradually collecting vital evidence to prove that the southern coast was being used for a major international racket to smuggle foreigners out of the country. They said that one of the reasons the racketeers were making use of foreigners was that if the illegal migrants were detected at the destination, they would be deported to the country of origin but the racketeers would not be detected. The raid came two days after a batch of 212 Pakistani nationals and a six-member crew led by a Russian captain were remanded for two more weeks. They were arrested off Tangalle on June 30. The CID was looking for the local agent, a woman who has been jailed for a similar offence abroad. Last month police here arrested 12 Bangladeshi nationals who were trying to board a trawler that was about to take off to Italy. Local union,
Lankan in Italy offer help The Free Trade Union Development Centre in Colombo and Ananda Seneviratne, a Sri Lankan living in Italy for more than 22 years will be working jointly to ensure that those who had been trained to be sent to Italy will get their Italian jobs. T. Tilakasiri, President of the Union, said they were collecting information about those who had undergone training and also co-ordinating with Mr. Seneviratne. He welcomed the government's efforts to have a formal agreement that offers 1000 jobs to Sri Lankans annually, but regretted the government's inability to make maximum use of it. Mr. Seneviratne told The Sunday Times he was willing to assist the government in securing the jobs. He said one of the mistakes made by the Sri Lankan officials initially was that they assumed that we would be automatically offered these jobs once we sent in the names. But, according to the Italian system it was our duty to secure the jobs by talking to employers and going through the necessary paper work to obtain visa and facilitate the passage. Mr. Seneviratne said that they have been watching the interests of the Lankans in Italy and would continue to do so. The local union said the affected people could contact them on <ftudc@sltnet.lk>. Amaratunga
hunting jobs Ministry sources said Mr. Amaratunga would return to the country tomorrow.While the Minister of Interior provides his services to the Ministry of Labour, this subject has also got two Ministers assigned to it. The cabinet portfolio of Labour is assigned to Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe and the non-cabinet portfolio of Migrant Workers Welfare is assigned to Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena. At present 40,000 Sri Lankans are employed in Italy. Meanwhile, Cyprus has assured the visiting Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando that it would continue to offer jobs to Sri Lankans despite its recent accession to the European Union. During his visit, Mr. Fernando also had discussions with Cyprus Labour and Social Insurance Minister Makis Keravnos. |
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