Please go home!

Sri Lankans are among those queuing up to register under the amnesty offered by UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to illegal workers to return to their respective countries

As three Gulf countries – Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait prepare to crack down on illegal migrant workers, many Sri Lankans have availed themselves of the amnesty offered to defaulting workers to return home. Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau Deputy General Manager, L.K. Ruhunage said about 5,000 Sri Lankans were expected to come back in the coming months.

He said about 3,800 Sri Lankans in Kuwait had so far registered at the Sri Lankan embassy while about 50 Sri Lankans are reporting to the embassy and consulate in the UAE on a daily basis to obtain the opportunity granted by the amnesty. More than 100 Sri Lankans have so far registered at the embassy in Saudi Arabia to apply for the amnesty that ends on June 30.

The penalty for those who employ or provide shelter to illegal workers in the UAE will be one month jail sentence and a fine of Dh 50. Kuwait authorities have warned stern action against those who didn’t comply with its amnesty of two months which started from May 1. Mr. Ruhunage said the positive side of the amnesty was that the illegal migrant workers will not be banned from returning legally to those countries to work again. He said many Sri Lankans are happy about the amnesty as they now can leave the country freely without fear of penalties by the authorities.

However he said the bureau was unable to give the exact number of those who have sought the amnesty as the registration was done in more than one place. He also said they couldn’t say how many had returned so far to Sri Lanka as there was no proper monitoring system.Mr. Ruhunage said the workers who possess passports are required to report to the Immigration Departments of the respective countries while those without passports have to go to the embassy of their countries and receive out-passes or emergency certificates to return home.

He said the amnesty seekers are accommodated in deportation camps before being expatriated to their home countries. He downplayed the impact on the country’s already-limping economy from the possible deportation of Sri Lankans stating that there was always the opportunity for them to go back as migrant workers as they have not been banned from re-enter those countries.

The last amnesty given in the Gulf region had been in the UAE. Under this six month amnesty about 100,000 illegal workers had returned to their respective countries. With the amnesty coming into effect, India and Pakistan that have a huge work force in those countries have set up many registration centres in Dubai and UAE to speed up the process before the amnesty ends.

Media accounts from the Gulf region reported mixed reactions from illegal migrant workers with some welcoming it as a good opportunity to go back to their home countries and others seeing it as a major economic blow.

Association for Licenced Foreign Employment Agencies president Suraj Dandeniya welcomed the amnesty saying it allows those who are overstaying illegally to return home safely without facing penalties.

He also said the amnesty may help curb the illegal job market where people go abroad without registering with the FEB and foreign employment agencies but work with sponsors who aren’t bound by any agreements.

A spokesperson for A.R. Foreign Manpower Services, a foreign employment agency in Colombo said, it would be advisable for illegal workers in the three Gulf countries to accept the amnesty or they may have to face severe repercussions by way of fines and imprisonment.

The countries offering the amnesty have charged that illegal migrant workers were having a negative impact on the job market, endangering national security and increasing the crime rate.

According to 2005 statistics, 380786 Sri Lankans work as contract workers in Saudi Arabia 202127 in Kuwait and 171558 in the UAE.