Malaysia welcomes more Lankan workers

Sri Lanka is now on the list of approved source countries for foreign labour in Malaysia and can send as many workers as needed for any sector.

Visiting Labour Relations and Foreign Employment Minister Athauda Seneviratne sees this outcome of his meetings with Deputy Home Affairs Minister Tan Chai Ho and Human Resources Minister Dr. Fong Chan Onn yesterday as a fresh start for both countries.

Sri Lanka had been the first country to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Malaysia, in August 2003, to send 40,000 to 60,000 trained domestic helpers and plantation workers to Malaysia.

At that time, there were 4,000 Sri Lankans working in both sectors in Malaysia. The MoU aims to protect the workers' rights while ensuring a more systematic and efficient recruitment of better trained, English-speaking workers for Malaysia.

But today, there are less than 1,000 Sri Lankans working in Malaysia as domestic helpers and in the manufacturing, plantation and construction sectors-and the MoU has "expired".

"The MoU is not valid now," Seneviratne told Bernama, adding that the Sri Lankan government was not trying to sign another agreement with Malaysia.

"Now we are starting a new chapter," he said, with his Malaysian counterpart providing a verbal guarantee. "We can send any number of general workers and professionals, depending on the demand of employers in Malaysia."

And the former trade unionist said he had also been promised that Sri Lankan workers in Malaysia would have rights equal to local workers.

Seneviratne, who is accompanied by Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment Chairman Prof P. V. B. Karunatilaka and his Ministry's Additional Secretary Padmini Ratnayake, met the Malaysian Employer's Federation and local employment agencies during his four-day visit.

In the services sector, Sri Lanka can offer skilled workers in information Technology (IT), health and tourism, he noted. Malaysian employers can liaise with the Sri Lankan High Commission in Kuala Lumpur as well as private and government-run employment agencies in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka also welcomes Malaysian investment, especially in the construction sector.

The Minister on Wednesday met 18 representatives of Malaysian employment agencies and vowed to consider their suggestions aimed at enhancing the quality of Sri Lankan workers sent to Malaysia.

He said his ministry also planned to invite representatives of Malaysian agencies to visit Sri Lanka to discuss workers' problems and efforts to enhance their skills through training.

Last year, 1,000 Sri Lankans were recruited to work in Malaysia and about 700 of them were maids while the rest worked in the agriculture sector, he said.

(Courtesy Bernama)