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| Wednesday, 11 August 2004 |
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by P. Krishnaswamy The first batch of 285 expatriate housemaids looking dejected, disillusioned and disappointed heaved a huge sigh of relief as they stepped on home soil after a terrible ordeal having been stranded in Kuwait in a failed attempt in search of that elusive pot of gold. They arrived on board a special flight provided them by a sympathetic Emir of Kuwait as a humanitarian gesture. The flight touched down at 5.15 pm at the Bandaranaike International Airport Katunayake. The returning expatriates- all women- who complained of persecution and other criminal actions against them had been given refuge in the Sri Lankan embassy in Kuwait when the Emir having heard of their plight responded with sympathy and arranged their passage to Sri Lanka. The second batch of 213 will be flown in on Friday, August 13, courtesy the Emir of Kuwait according to Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau sources. They had worked for periods ranging from three months to two years and complained that they had to quit for reasons of either harassment by employers or non-payment of salaries and other criminal acts. Some said that their Agencies in Kuwait had let them down badly.Many of these Agencies had gone to extent of exploiting them in "different" ways. They said that they were well looked after by the embassy officials during their ordeal and expressed gratitude. However,the Kuwaiti Ambassador in Colombo, Abdullah.Al.Sanousi, who spoke to the media men at the airport lounge just after the arrival of the expatriates said that his government has already taken steps to collect the salaries due to them and to remit it back here. He also said that procedures will be laid down to punish errant agencies and to make sure that such shortcomings do not occur in the future. Chairman of the SLBFE, Karunasena Hettiarachchi, speaking to the media at the airport lounge said that the Government of Sri Lanka and SLBFE were grateful to His Highness, the Emir of Kuwait and the concerned ministries and officials of the state of Kuwait for their assistance and co-operation towards the repatriation of the stranded Sri Lankan expatriates and for other assistance to help them. He said that the number being repatriated were negligible compared to the over 1,85,000 Sri Lankan expatriate workers gainfully employed in Kuwait. Necessary procedures will be laid down for the employment security of the Sri Lankan expatriate workers in Gulf states, he said. He recalled that Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment, Athuda Senaviratne, visited Kuwait recently and held discussions with Kuwait Acting Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ahamad Nawaz Al-Sabah on the plight of the expatriates. He and senior officials of the SLBFE also undertook visits to Kuwait in this regard, he said. The following expatriates spoke to the Daily News on their plight and why they had to quit their jobs: Sunethra Irangani (27) from Divulakumbura, Polgahawela: "My husband is physically handicapped. Both his hands were crushed in an accident while working in a rubber factory and underwent amputation below the wrist. I have two children aged six and two respectively. We are extremely poor and borrowed Rs.15,000/- to pay to the local agents for the housemaid's job in Kuwait. I was in Kuwait for eight months. I worked five months but was not paid my salary. Then I quit the job and took refuge at the Lankan Embassy where I stayed for three months. Now I have returned empty-handed." H. G. Jayanthi (24) from Pannagamuwa, Tissamaharama: "I was in Kuwait 18 months. I worked 15 months but was not paid my salaries. I then quit my job and took shelter at our Embassy in Kuwait. My husband is a driver. We borrowed Rs.18,000 to pay to the agents and other related expenses. My employer tore my passport into pieces when I asked for my salary and I returned on an Emergency Passport issued by our Embassy." Ali Akbar Sithi Nazeema (36) from Mullipotana, Kantalai: "My husband is a labourer and I have four children, three of them daughters the eldest being 18 years. I worked in Kuwait for 2 years and was not paid my salaries for the last 4 months. I quit the job and took shelter at the Embassy for about two months. They helped me to return home." |
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