Blacklisting – the real crime?

Thursday, 12 July 2012 01:49 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

PIECEMEAL policymaking can be classified as a national hobby in Sri Lanka. But when it affects the highest foreign exchange earning component of the country, namely the migrant workers, the time has clearly arrived to stop and take stock of decisions.

The Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB) is to start blacklisting convicted migrant workers in an effort to reduce “situations” arising from local workers leaving their places of employment and returning home. Reports indicate that most of these workers had been found guilty for allegedly staying without visas, working at other places, escaping from households, robbery, engaging in prostitution and for flouting the laws of the country where they were employed.

According to the SLFB Chairman, they are all to be blacklisted from September, regardless of the inhuman conditions that may have prompted such action and possible victimisation from the employers. The Sri Lankan authorities will also wholesale accept the decision made by a different judicial system in another country, one that may be unfamiliar to the worker and might not have fairly defended him.

The SLFEB officers had also pointed out that that escaping from their employers had become a ‘racket’ among the housemaids and regular reports of these incidents had been pouring into the bureau. This is grossly unfair as it is common knowledge that these women are often mistreated, with no regulations implemented for the number of hours that they work.

Often they are subjected to pathetic living conditions with long hours, bad food, harsh treatment and low wages being the norm. Given such an environment, it is natural that workers will attempt to return home and appeal to the bureau to help them. It is the bureau’s job to look after these women and help them as much as possible, not think that solving the problem is blacklisting them.

These women have already become victims and should not be further victimised by a lopsided system that affords no blame to countries that have consistently ignored implementing even basic migrant worker rights. If such internationally-accepted legislation existed, then it would make sense to accept the court sentences handed out to Sri Lankan citizens, but otherwise this is clearly worsening the situation and abandoning workers to a life of economic distress.

Moreover, without basic migrant worker rights in place, new workers will become blacklisted rather than the number of misbehaviours reducing. As it is hundreds of workers are reportedly awaiting the chance to return home and face the prospect of being blacklisted on top of enduring hardship in the Middle East. Twelve countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, would come under this blacklisting.

The SLFEB exists to protect migrant workers, who the Central Bank hopes will bring in an estimated US$ 5 billion this year. The hundreds upon thousands of migrant workers are those who keep this country running. Authorities who get high salaries and duty-free vehicles off their earnings would do well to remember this before deciding on how to limit even what little support they get from the place migrant workers call home.