Govt to reserve Rs. 5 bn Kuwait Fund solely for welfare of Sri Lankan migrant workers

The government has decided to allocate the Rs. 5 billion Kuwait Fund exclusively for the social protection and welfare of Sri Lankan migrant workers, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Employment Arun Hemachandra told Parliament on Wednesday.

Addressing Parliament, the Deputy Minister outlined measures being taken to strengthen the protection of Sri Lankan migrant workers, improve welfare services, and reduce delays in documentation and certification processes.

He said there are approximately 1,076,663 registered Sri Lankan migrant workers overseas. The largest numbers are employed in Saudi Arabia (248,000), the United Arab Emirates (350,000), Kuwait (175,000) and Qatar (140,000). A further 185,765 registered workers are employed in countries where Sri Lanka does not maintain dedicated labour sections at its diplomatic missions.

Hemachandra said formal social protection mechanisms are currently in place for Sri Lankan workers in Cyprus, Jordan, Malaysia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, while workers in South Korea are covered under that country’s National Pension Scheme and National Insurance system. In countries without dedicated social protection arrangements, labour-related issues are handled individually through Sri Lankan diplomatic missions.

Responding to a supplementary question from MP Hector Appuhamy, the Deputy Minister said the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment had introduced a dedicated emergency hotline during the recent Middle East conflict to collect information on workers who lost their jobs and facilitate necessary intervention.

He also said steps have been taken to reduce delays in obtaining police clearance certificates and document authentication services required for overseas employment. The government is currently discussing a digitalisation programme with the Ministry of Public Security to speed up police certification procedures for Sri Lankans living abroad, while applicants in Sri Lanka are encouraged to obtain police reports through their local police stations for faster processing. (Newswire)

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