Cabinet approves digitising foreign employment sector: Manusha

• Says App to monitor Sri Lankan Foreign workers
• Amendments to SLBFE Act now in final phase, soon be tabled in Parliament 

Labour and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara said that the Cabinet of Ministers approved digitising the entire foreign employment sector to streamline the entire process.

He emphasised that the idea would be put into action soon and that it would assist free the foreign job sector from the grip of fraudsters and traffickers. It will also enhance the processes for managing grievances and increase communication between migrant workers and authorities.

He made these remarks on Saturday in a discussion held with Journalists in the Matale district on the sidelines of the ‘Jayagamu Sri Lanka’ program.

The Minister emphasised that this initiative would empower the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) to thwart unnecessary interference and combat illegal activities effectively.

“The digitisation of this sector will improve efficiency by including everything from SLBFE recruiting to personnel hiring at the Embassy. Furthermore, each employee will have an ‘App’ on their phone, which will allow our Colombo office to notify someone in case of an emergency. As a result, we have created a mechanism to get in touch with the appropriate individual from afar. We will update you on it later on. Once this system is established, many problems in the sector can be solved,” Nanayakkara said. 

Responding to questions from Journalists the Minister said under the laws stipulated in the current Act, the SLBFE has no responsibility regarding sub-agents.  “The SLBFE Act is modified to address sub-agents; it is currently in the final stages and will shortly be submitted for approval in Parliament by the Attorney General’s Department. It contains that these sub-agents are regulated as agencies with licences. However, this agency must take accountability for these sub-agents,” he added.

The Minister said matters related to the foreign employment sector will be streamlined and more transparent with the digitisation process.