Financial Times

Migrant workers need more protection
The International Organisation of Migration (IOM) said last week that Sri Lankan migrant workers were entitled to more protection irrespective of whether they seek overseas employment through legal or illegal channels.

Mary Sheehan, IOM Chief of Mission in Sri Lanka, told a consultative meeting on migrant workers in Colombo that while more needs to be done to protect these workers it was also essential to meet them before they make decisions on migration.

"IOM convened a meeting with NGOs recently and discussed these issues. We need to give would-be migrant workers more information on various aspects of overseas employment before they decide to migrate," she said at the second consultation of stakeholders working on migration issues. It was organised by the National Workers Congress.

Sheehan also raised the sensitive issue of health screening of migrant workers, saying it was a delicate issue which could be a bigger problem later if not dealt with now. "We need to build capacities to offer health screening of migrant workers who feel they may need it. We know there are stigmas involved and nobody wants to talk about it but the fact is that this is a major problem and we need to find ways to deal with it," she added.

Sheehan said they were planning to train 10 councillors from the bureau to counsel migrant workers and offer the workers an opportunity to undergo health screening on return. Employment and Labour Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said a select committee of Parliament has over the past six months looked at various aspects of overseas employment with one of the key issues being the legislative steps required to protect workers.

He said he was negotiating bilateral agreements with some countries with a MoU with Malaysia already in the bag. The Ministry was also in the process of finalising an agreement with Jordan and has exchanged letters with the Lebanese minister of labour ahead of a proposed MoU which would benefit some 80,000 Sri Lankans working there.

Discussions of a similar agreement with Saudi authorities are on while Cyprus has also consented to signing a bilateral agreement or MoU. "I give these examples to show that our approach has been that while the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment and our missions abroad deal with day to day problems concerning migrant workers, the government will look at legal steps to guarantee the protection and safety of our workers," he added.

When the minister invited questions, queries or comments from the audience which included former migrant workers, a woman presented a petition to Samarasinghe concerning her daughter who had worked in Dubai. J. Iranganie Chandralatha of Jaela says her daughter W. Dina Priyadharshani, 24 years, who worked as a machine operator in a garment factory here went to Sharjah on April 21, 2002 to work in a factory there. She was promised 475 dirhams but didn't get her salary for a few months and then was paid 350-375 dirhams saying her air ticket costs had to be paid, her mother said.

After 15 months she fell ill and developed high fever. The factory doctor examined her and gave an injection for the fever to come down. Instead Priyadharshani became unconscious and recovered after three days in a Dubai hospital but with her right side completely paralysed. She returned to Sri Lanka in a wheelchair on July 13, 2003 courtesy the Red Cross. Her mother says they are seeking the insurance payment and some support from the government.

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