Furore over visit visas
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They were waiting at the gate for him. And, as Aldoris, the choon-paan karaya, came down the lane in his tuk-tuk filled with breakfast goodies, the trio rubbed their stomachs to show their regular baker that they were indeed hungry.“Hari…..samavenna mata poddak parakku wuna (Well…sorry if I got a bit late),” he said, while handing out ‘maalu paans’, the favourite of the trio.
“Aldoris, oyata ahunada sri lanka videsha seva niyukthi karyanshayata viruddawa chodhana thiyenawa kiyala egollo kattiya pelembuwa kiyala pita rata rassawal hoyaganna kiyala gaman visa ekka (Aldoris, did you hear that the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) is being accused of encouraging people to find jobs overseas on visit visas)” asked Serapina. “Nae, mama denan hitiye nae (No, I didn’t),” replied Aldoris.
“Magey gnathi kenek giya gaman visa ekak ekka, harihaman rassavak nethuwa. Lake kata eyata puluwan wuna rassavak hoya ganna (One of my relatives also went on visit visas – without a secure job – and thankfully she was able to find a job),” said Kussi Amma Sera. “Harima avadanam sahithai pita rata gihilla rassawak hoyaganna gaman visa ekak ekka (It is very risky to go abroad on a visit visa and try and find a job),” asserted Mabel Rasthiyadu.
Indeed, many Sri Lankans, particularly during the trying 2022-2023 period of the economic crisis went abroad on visit visas and were stranded without jobs, while a few found employment with low wages.
In 2023, the World Bank said more than 500,000 Sri Lankans lost their jobs in 2022 due to the crisis and the numbers living below the poverty line have increased. New personal taxes have shot up and affect middle class incomes. As a result, Sri Lanka issued an all-time high of almost 900,000 passports in 2022, compared to the previous high of just over 650,000 in 2016, according to government data, with many going abroad in search of jobs.
While the queues at the passport office have reduced as the new government battles to issue passports with an office that is open 24/7, the urge to find an overseas job hasn’t diminished, so much so that Peter Breuer, IMF Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, urged during a news briefing this week that as incomes increase and poverty reduces, it’ll be more attractive to remain in Sri Lanka and not leave and emigrate. Those who have emigrated may find opportunities back in Sri Lanka again, he said.
As I relished a ‘maalu paan’ and enjoyed my favourite mug of tea, with milk and no sugar, the home phone rang. It was Cardboard Sando, the muscle man from the nearby petti-kade. Not having seen or spoken to him for a while, the reconnection was a welcome diversion for the morning. After the usual pleasantries, we got onto serious business.
“There seems to be a lot of issues at the SLBFE,” he said. “These issues have been there for a very long time. The fact remains that when you have political appointees holding key positions, their mandate is to serve the master (their political godfathers) and not the institution or the country,” I said.
“It seems the bureau has been sending people abroad on visit visas. What a crisis,” he said. “There are many more issues at the bureau and sadly, it’s the poor migrant workers seeking to earn an honest wage and help their family who suffer the most,” I said. “These workers are also humiliated at the airport when they are pulled out of queues, if they have not registered with the bureau, and forced to do so at the bureau counter at the airport,” he said.
The issue at hand is the exposure at a recent meeting of the Committee on Public Enterprise (COPE) scrutinising the work of the SLBFE and stumbling on an alleged human trafficking racket with government complicity!
According to media reports, senior SLBFE officials had issued circulars violating the laws and without Board approval to send domestic workers for overseas jobs on visit visas. It was revealed that more than 6,000 workers were sent abroad via this method, with “1,990 unaccounted for and 742 reported missing”, according to one report. It was revealed at the hearing that some of the women had been forced into exploitative work and were struggling.
Circulars enabling workers to go on overseas jobs on visit visas had been issued by senior officials, one of whom said this was a routine practice. It appears that job orders in South Korea were also received under the category of visit visas with government officials defending the move, again saying it was routine practice with the authorities at the other end.
These steps, Sri Lankans going abroad on visit visas with government assent, was a regular practice during the tenure of Manusha Nanayakkara as Foreign Employment Minister, it was revealed at the COPE meeting. Various instances of financial misappropriation in recent years over various programmes were also highlighted during the COPE session.
Migrant workers, particularly female domestic workers and construction labourers, have suffered enough in the process of securing a job, often working under difficult conditions abroad.
While conditions in West Asia are not all that conducive for Sri Lankans who are compelled to use these job opportunities to keep the home fires burning, there seems to be an improvement in the conditions of employment as West Asian countries respond positively to allegations of human rights abuses in the workplace by rights groups like the Human Rights Watch (HRW), for example.
Recently Saudi Arabia, which employs the highest number of Sri Lankan workers in that region, announced new regulations ensuring rights and protections for expat workers in that country. According to government officials, under new rules, a comprehensive legal framework has been established to protect the rights of expatriate workers and ensure justice and transparency.
They said the Saudi Labour Law governs the relationship between workers and employers, mandating written employment contracts that clearly define wages, tasks and responsibilities, thereby establishing clear obligations and rights for both parties. It also facilitates job mobility, allowing workers to transfer to new employment upon contract completion, without requiring prior-employer approval.
“Employers are also required to pay wages on time through the ‘Wage Protection Programme’, an electronic system launched by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development,” according to one media report, which added that this system monitors wage disbursements for all workers in private sector establishments, both Saudi and expatriate, creating a database of updated wage payment information.
Well, I have come to the end of another issue that I am often committed to – particularly because it affects the lives of many people from the rural hinterland. Sipping my second mug of tea, I am hopeful for the future where these mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters of ours will be given the due respect and dignity they deserve, while helping swell Sri Lanka’s critical foreign exchange coffers.
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