The Foreign Ministry has strongly protested to the Foreign Employment Ministry for allowing a private insurance company to operate an office within the Sri Lankan diplomatic mission in Kuwait City, Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said yesterday.
In a tough letter Dr. Kohona has called for the immediate removal of this insurance company known as Al Huquuq and has sent out instructions to the Ambassador to terminate its functions with immediate effect.
“Commercial entity functioning within a diplomatic mission without the consent of the receiving State is against accepted diplomatic norms in general and is irregular in terms of the Vienna Convention in particular,” the letter has stated.
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| Palitha Kohona |
The Foreign Ministry has also hit out at this so-called insurance scheme saying it would be detrimental to the interests of the citizens of the host country which intends to employ Sri Lankan domestic workers.
The letter further states that if the due legal formalities of the country are not fully complied with, then the scheme would become counterproductive.
Dr. Kohona has added that the Kuwait Ambassador in Colombo has also expressed his displeasure about the insurance scheme stating it is neither required by his Government nor the Sri Lankan Government.
The Ambassador has gone on to state that despite repeated reminders to the Foreign Employment Ministry the practice continues unhindered and therefore his Government has to consider the discontinuation of future recruitment of Sri Lankan migrant workers to that country.
The so-called insurance scheme compels Kuwaiti employers to pay an extra 50 KD in addition to the other fees that are charged by agents for the supply of domestic workers.
The Association for Licensed Foreign Employment Agencies (ALFEA) has come out strongly against the scheme saying it was hurting the job market to that country, and alleged that certain corrupt officials were behind this scheme.
ALFEA President W.M.P. Aponso told The Sunday Times that several protests had been made in this regard but the Foreign Employment Ministry had taken up a stubborn position. “We have even informed the President’s Office,” Mr. Aponso said.
Foreign Employment Minister Keheliya Ramukwella maintained that the insurance scheme was important to protect workers in times of trouble. “The recruiting agents are protesting simply because they will have to pocket out this insurance fee from their personal commissions,” he said.
The Minister also likened ALFEA to that of an international mafia.
Meanwhile the Presidential Secretariat has called on the
Foreign Employment Bureau to pay special attention to this issue and take appropriate action
accordingly.
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