Thursday, 11 July 2013 00:41
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THE tragedy of Rizana Nafeek, in an ideal world, may have stopped more people from travelling to sustain their loved ones, but in Sri Lanka the opposite seems to be happening. Yet, much still needs to be done to make their working conditions better
According to the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), the total number of departures for foreign employment rose by 6.3% year-on-year to 279,482 in 2012. Apart from the housemaid category, increases were also seen in clerical and related fields, middle level and professional categories.
Within the first five months of this year 19,445 women had departed to Saudi Arabia as housemaids. This is despite various women’s rights activists and other pressure groups called to end the practice of sending Sri Lankan women to West Asian countries as domestics. Not to mention additional political pressure for the Government to find alternate ways to bring foreign exchange into the country.
However, Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister Dilan Perera recently instructed the SLBFE to take measures to change the appellation of Sri Lankan women who leave for employment in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the SLBFE had changed the name of the job, which was previously termed ‘housemaid’ to ‘domestic housekeeping assistant’ and the basic salary of these domestic workers has also been increased to Saudi riyal 900, which is around Rs. 31,000.
As terrible as Rizana’s death has been, there are scores of other migrant workers who die as a result of working abroad who do not get this same level of publicity. Inadequate efforts by the Sri Lankan Government in negotiating better terms for them, holding employers and recruitment agencies accountable and swiftly aiding mistreated or abandoned workers in the Middle East has repeatedly been highlighted – but to no avail.
This is a siren call for the Government to get its act together and work to protect migrant workers in the future and provide adequate assistance to their bereaved families. While increasing the age limits for female migrant workers is a start, there is much more that needs to be done to ensure that poverty stricken women are assisted and empowered.
Women crushed under the burden of poverty have little consideration for rules and will likely do anything possible to circumvent them. This means that greater awareness and training is also necessary so that they can get better pay and work conditions. They need support services here and in the country of employment so that when an injustice is done they have an authority to turn to.
Proposed housing and entrepreneurship loan schemes, while providing an incentive for migrant workers, are also part of a highly politicised process that leaves room for women to fall through the cracks. A special system has to be put in place so that savings and accessibility to loans and other financial schemes are given through an impartial framework. This will not only protect women but also give them a chance to invest and grow their savings while being able to return to their lives at home faster.
The Government will no doubt point out that its push to promote skilled labour migration would end tragedies such as Rizana’s, but without the right legal and official framework in place, many more Sri Lankans run the risk of danger while trying to give their loved ones a better life.
