Visit-visa syndrome
View(s):
It was a casual remark by Kussi Amma Sera on Tuesday, while she brought me a mug of tea that piqued my interest. “Aei kattiya neethi virodi lesa pita rata yanne rassawal hoya gena (Why do people go abroad illegally to find a job),” she asked.“Mokakda eke theruma (What do you mean)?” I asked. “Aei goda denek aganthuka visa aragena yanne pita rata rassawal hoyaganna (Why… many people go on visit visas to find jobs abroad),” she said, expressing her understanding of the rules that govern going abroad to work.
This comment and a dire warning: “Don’t go searching for jobs on visit visas,” by State Minister for Foreign Affairs Tharaka Balasuriya, bring me to today’s discussion. His comments were made at a media briefing last week on a number of Sri Lankans trapped in a slave camp in Myanmar, forced into cybercrime work by a hostile group. Some had escaped, while others are still in captivity.
Last week, 20 Sri Lankans were rescued from the Myanmar camp and brought to Thailand. Mr. Balasuriya said they were now engaged in the release of another group of 34 Sri Lankans being held there, after having been lured to work in a cybercrime outfit. They had travelled to Thailand on visit visas and crossed the border to work in Myanmar.
Earlier in the week, I fired an email to a group of migration activists asking: “Why do people travel overseas on visit visas in a bid to secure jobs?” and got a couple of responses. The reality is that many Sri Lankans, due to the economic crisis a few years back, travelled abroad on visit visas in the hope of finding jobs, particularly in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which includes Dubai. Only a few countries including Singapore (visa on arrival) provide no-fuss visit visas and
Sri Lankans use this route to travel abroad and find jobs.
According to one respondent to my email, there are still communities that are unaware of the legal ways to migrate. “The information does not trickle down to the grassroots. Even if it does, there is a big gap between the community and government officers. So the people tend to believe the sub-agent who is mostly part of the community,” he said.
Another response: “The dire intention is to seek economic prosperity in the countries of destinations, primarily for self and families, mostly due to peer influencers, irregular migration agents and personal ambitions, and having lack of awareness on safe and regular labour migration processes available for Sri Lankans.”
Key issues that emerged in illegal job migration were: “Dire economic circumstances; impulse decision by the prospect to migrate; a request by a friend who is already in service; visit visa flexibility; ability to choose a job; avoid large recruitment payments to agents; avoiding costly medical tests at home; flexibility of changing jobs, freelancing; indebtedness or family issues that push for urgent departures; strong influence of sub-agents who are not accountable to the rules and regulations of ethical migration practices, among others.”
As I was preparing the column on Thursday, ‘Human resource’ pundit HR Perera, popularly known as HR, called on the home phone. HR also closely follows the trend of migration to West Asia for work and keeps tabs of many international developments in this context.
To my surprise, it so happened that Thursday’s conversation was about some international news on migration that he had picked up from West Asian newspapers.
“The UAE has brought in tougher new laws including hefty fines to prevent firms from hiring workers who come on visit visas,” he said.
“Is that so?” I asked.
“Fines of between Dh100,000 and Dh1 million will be imposed on those employing workers without a proper permit; and bringing them to the UAE and failing to provide them with a legal job,” he said, quoting news reports. One Dh (Dirham) is equivalent to 27 US cents.
He said, according to these reports, the fines earlier were Dh50,000 to Dh200,000.
As I reflected on these issues on Thursday, I walked over to the kitchen to fetch my second mug of tea and, in line with the regular practice, turned my attention to the margosa tree conversation by the trio. What were they discussing today?
“Magey meda peradiga inna samahara yaluwo duk wenawa egollanta chandey danna beri wena eka gena September 21 wenida janadipathi mathivaramaye. Egollo hari asai chandey danna (Some of my friends in the Middle East are wishing they could vote at the September 21 presidential election. They would love to do so),” said Kussi Amma Sera.
“Eka karanna bae nae. Lankawata enna oney nae chandey danna (That is not possible. They have to come to Sri Lanka to vote),” noted Serapina.
“Egollo kiyanawa ehe weda karana samahara kattiya, filipine ratey aya chandey danawalu eh ratey ambassiyata gihilla egollangey maw bimey chandayak thiyeddi. (They say some of their Filipina colleagues have said that in their case they are able to vote through their (Philippines) embassy when there is an election in their home country),” noted Kussi Amma Sera.
“Lankawath eh widihata kaloth pita rata inna lankika laksha pahalowakta chandey danna puluwan (If Sri Lanka also follows this practice, it would help more than 1.5 million
Sri Lankans to vote while abroad),” said Mabel Rasthiyadu.
Sri Lankans working, mostly in West Asia and parts of Asia, sent remittances worth US$3.7 billion (Rs.1.136.trillion) in the January to July 2024 period. Such remittances are likely to reach around $5-6 billion by year end. The highest amount of annual remittances was $7 billion received before the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2022 economic crisis. This is a huge economic bonanza for Sri Lankan and the authorities should make voting arrangements for these workers.
Remittances are mostly sent by those working short-term (2-3 years) in West Asia and Asia, to upkeep their families in Sri Lanka, while remittances from those permanently resident in Europe and North America are marginal as most of the families live together in those countries.
Back to today’s conversation on irregular migration, when a Sri Lankan father and his two sons were shopping in a Dubai supermarket during a holiday during the 2022 economic crisis, they were approached by three men who looked like South Asians.
“Are you from Sri Lanka,” one of the men asked the visiting Sri Lankans. “Why, yes,” said the father. Speaking in Sinhala, the reply was, “We are also from Sri Lanka.” The trio, who looked troubled, said they had come to Dubai on visit visas to find a job and two months had passed; they still had no job and they were low on finances. “Can you help find us a job?” one of them asked.
As I prepared to wind up my column, my thoughts were on the sad reality that Sri Lankans would still go abroad on visit visas to find jobs, even if they understood the inherent dangers in this practice, as long as there are limited opportunities at home coupled with the phenomenal rise in the cost of living.
Hitad.lk has you covered with quality used or brand new cars for sale that are budget friendly yet reliable! Now is the time to sell your old ride for something more attractive to today's modern automotive market demands. Browse through our selection of affordable options now on Hitad.lk before deciding on what will work best for you!