'Personally against Sri Lankan women being employed as housemaids overseas' : President

President Maithripala Sirisena has said that he is not in favour of Sri Lankan women being employed as housemaids overseas.

He made these remarks at an event held to mark International Women’s Day at the Salgadu Playground in Anuradhapura today (Mar 08).

Mr. Sirisena said that some 1.5 million women are employed as housemaids overseas while approximately 2.2 million Sri Lankans are employed in various sectors across the world.

“Are the lives of those people happy? Are these women protected?,” the President questioned before adding that he did not believe so.

While opining that he was not in favour of women being employed as housemaids overseas, the President pointed out that it is these women who bring in a huge amount of foreign exchange to the country.

On the same lines, he stressed that the higher officials in the state sector enjoy several perks including the facility to travel in luxury vehicles only due to the income generate by these housemaids.