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| Tuesday, 10 August 2004 |
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by P.Krishnaswamy The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) in co-ordination with the Kuwait government has arranged to bring down 503 more Sri Lankan housemaids who have been long stranded in Kuwait due to hostile working conditions and harassment by their employers. The first batch numbering 290 will arrive at the Katunayake International Airport today by Kuwait Airlines flight No.KU 4361 at 5:10 today while the second batch of 213 will arrive next Thursday, August 12, at 6:15 p.m. SLBFE Chairman, Karunasena Hettiarachchi, told the "Daily News" that they will be provided all healthcare and other welfare facilities on arrival and will be provided transport and monetary assistance to get back to their homes. The question of paying compensation to them will be taken up with the concerned authorities in due course, he said. Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment, Athauda Seneviratne, visited Kuwait recently to observe the pathetic condition of these housemaids who were rendered refugees and looked after by the Sri Lankan Embassy in Tehran. Minister Seneviratne took up with the Kuwait Acting PM and Interior Minister, Nawaz Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the question of providing assistance for their repatriation to Sri Lanka, the SLBFE chairman said. The Kuwait Acting PM consequently took steps for their repatriation, he said. Sri Lankan Ambassador in Kuwait, M. Mansoor, took all necessary follow-up action in co-ordination with the concerned authorities of the Kuwait government, he said. Minister Seneviratne, through Ambassador M. Mansoor, had expressed his gratitude to the Kuwait government for all assistance and co-operation rendered in this regard, the SLBFE chairman said, adding that, the Kuwaiti government, in turn, has promised to extend all necessary assistance in the future as well. Any inquiries with regard to the Sri Lankan housemaids who are arriving can be made at a special unit of the SLBFE opened at the Katunayake International Airport on phone Nos. 011-2256660, 011-2259341 or 011-2259053. |
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