SL engages with Kuwaiti Govt. on amnesty for some returnees

• Foreign Secy. says SL workers keen to make use of amnesty so they can return legally
• Kuwaiti Govt. willing to fly back migrant workers 
• FM working to return workers in phases, resolve logistical issues including quarantine process
• Says countries such as Bangladesh also pose challenges for repatriation
• Prepared to assist all those who need to return based on independent evaluation    

The Foreign Relations Ministry has begun to engage with its Kuwaiti counterpart to decide how Sri Lankan migrant workers in need can avail themselves of the amnesty announced by the Kuwaiti Government, the Ministry said yesterday, but repatriation is likely to take place in phases.

The Ministry released details of an interview by Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha that aired on State TV channel Rupavahini, during which the Secretary elaborated on the ministry’s plans to repatriate migrant workers.

On Wednesday the Cabinet gave approval for workers from Kuwait, Dubai, and the Maldives to return. Many from these countries had requested support from the Sri Lankan Government earlier to come home.

“The significance of the Cabinet Paper presented by Foreign Relations and Foreign Employment Minister Dinesh Gunawardena was to re-emphasise something we said in our very original Cabinet paper over a month ago – that foreign migrant workers are a category in dire straits in certain countries and that therefore, in parallel with any student movements, we must also pay special attention to them and facilitate their return,”Aryasinha said.

The Foreign Secretary went on to note that since most of the students had been repatriated and allowed to complete their quarantine period either at hotels or quarantine centres, the Government was focusing on the return of migrant workers.

“In this context, presently I see the Maldives where a lot of Sri Lankans want to come back, particularly about 1,200 to 1,500 living in Male Island, as the most vulnerable. Then in places like Kuwait, in addition to vulnerability to COVID-19 which is common to the rest of the Middle East, there is also an amnesty declared by the Kuwaiti Government and we are conscious that there is anxiety on the part of foreign employees that if they lose this amnesty they will have greater difficulty coming out and returning legally someday.

“The Kuwaiti Government at this point has offered to fly them back to Sri Lanka. In fact, on Thursday evening the Foreign Minister, having received Cabinet sanction on Wednesday, was going to engage with his Kuwaiti counterpart and will be discussing a process by which Sri Lanka can respect that amnesty offer. We will be starting the process, but the Kuwait Government is very conscious that we can’t bring all the people who want to come at this point. Therefore, we will have to have some negotiations between the two Governments on how we phase that out,” he added. 

The Government may also face additional challenges when repatriating workers from countries such as Bangladesh, the Foreign Secretary warned, pointing out there was a comparatively higher number of women and children to consider.    

“Then there is also the problem of Sri Lankan expatriates working in places like Bangladesh, again where COVID-19 is spreading at a very rapid pace, and there are more than 1,000 people there, out of whom over 300 are women and children. We will similarly focus on repatriating vulnerable migrant worker categories from the Middle East and elsewhere. The Cabinet Paper’s second aspect was to ensure that local quarantine facilities are reserved for those coming who can’t afford to go to quarantine in hotels.”

The Foreign Secretary also pointed out that the Cabinet Paper, approved this week, also referred to the continued diplomatic representation to sustain the large number of migrant workers in their current places of domicile and also to ensure that there was continued help supplied to the most needy, which the Foreign Secretary said was being done by missions with the support of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment.

“I think that is very important at this juncture, because there are issues that come up from time to time, which can be resolved with intervention by the missions – an extension of visa, a landlord who is demanding rent, a business partner who is demanding some payment due, somebody who is seeking shelter and fixing a family for them to stay with, or someone who hasn’t a meal and wants some dry rations and sometimes medicines. Our missions across the world, not only in the Middle East, are providing valuable assistance to all Sri Lankans abroad. Naturally our capacity is limited financially, but together with Sri Lankan organisations as well as other philanthropic organisations in those countries and churches and other religious bodies, we are trying to meet that requirement.”

Aryasinha in response to a question also said that while it was the right of the migrant workers to decide whether they wanted to return home, it was important for them to independently evaluate their prospects once they were home. He warned that with the expected salary cuts and layoffs, some of which were already in effect, the returned workers may find it difficult to get work and could be paid far below what they were used to making in other countries.

“To those who have a choice, my advice has all along been to make an objective assessment of one’s circumstances. Somebody who is say in a country where universities are functioning and the term not over might lose out education wise if that person tries to move around. The same way somebody who is in a job, whether in the Middle East or any country, blue collar or white collar, at this point when you come back, you might not be able to return to that job because those countries are also cutting back and everybody is scaling down, as is the case in Sri Lanka. If you don’t have a job already, then I can see the logic, but I think it is important that people out there understand that when you come back to Sri Lanka too finding jobs won’t be easy.

“So our plea through our mission network in 67 cities to people out there is that they measure these factors very carefully. Those who insist on coming back, we will prioritise in an objective way. Not by looking at faces or connections, but by looking at the real necessity of their repatriation at this point and our capacity to bring them and quarantine them, so that they are not a danger to those in the country and they don’t unnecessarily expose themselves to danger on the way into the country.”