Sri Lankan Migrant Workers (රට විරුවන්) do not Deserve the Step-motherly Treatment

The coronavirus has decimated most of the industries and aviation is one of the hardest hit among many.

The other night, one of my friends and a former colleague gave me a courtesy call but apparently what he wanted to convey was that he and many of my former colleagues have been made redundant recently due the epidemic spreading at unprecedented levels.

Now they are stuck in a foreign land with no job and no hope of returning home anytime soon.

Thanks to the initiative taken by the host nation, they will be paid an allowance to cover their rent and food expenses by their former employer until their repatriation.

This initiative is something we should admire.

He did not sound overtly desperate but I can pick up the message in his undertone immediately when I asked him whether the Sri Lankan Embassy there is aware of their plight.

He and the rest have already contacted the Sri Lankan Embassy as well to the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment to get them repatriated as soon as possible but hitherto they have not heard anything substantial and or positive from either of them.

That made me think as to why they have not been given any priority status in selecting dispatching mercy flight to bring stranded Sri Lankans back home from all over the world.

Many aircraft were dispatched to far-flung places including to the place of birth of this plague but not to the Middle East or even to South Korea.

Most of those flights were to pick up students stranded in those places and they belong to the network of well-connected people.

How much they have been charged is not in the public domain but the aircraft sent to pick up students stuck in India were overcharged as per the information appearing in many social media platforms.

And if the only criteria to decide where the next flight should be sent is the monetary factor, then the Middle East & South Korea should be given priority over any other places.

Studying overseas and trying to acquire new skills and knowledge has a huge financial strain on the country’s coffer unless they all are on 100 % scholarships.

But it is not the case in most of the case.

They pay tuition fees in foreign currency taken from here.

However, the migrant workers go aboard to send much needed foreign currency to the country and in a pandemic situation like this, if they have been overlooked and a few privileged lots were entertained, it tells a lot about our choices and priorities.

We had been dealing with the Middle East for so long and with so many bilateral agreements including air agreements between respective countries, landing an aircraft and picking the standard Sri Lankans up in the country will not be that difficult.

The next question bothers me is that who will foot the cost of the mercy flight fare.

In that context, my friends are luck because their employer is legally bound to provide them with a free repatriation ticket at the end of their contract but many are not as fortunate as my former colleges.

Many are toiling in those places on the so-called Free Visa, where the sponsor is not the employer and the employer is not legally bound to provide them with the end of service repatriation ticket, let alone other benefits.

This is where the SLBFE comes into the picture.

All those who are going abroad for employment are subjected to a levy and this levy being charged as an insurance cover to bear the costs, if in case if a person is unable to return back on his or her own due to any reasons and or to airlift the remains of anyone who loses life while working in a foreign country.

How the authorities will respond to Rata Weeruwan's pleas turning into real action is something yet to be seen in the ground level but my only hope is that they will not be given the short end of the stick at the end.

Sri Lankan Migrant Workers (රට විරුවන්) do not deserve the step-motherly treatment, especially at a time like this for their healthy and continued contributions to the country’s economy for so many years.

I sincerely hope the authorities will soon do them the justice they do deserve for their contributions.

Over to you, if anyone is reading this.