293 passports, documents taken into custody

Bogus job agency busted in Maradana:

Rasika SOMARATHNA

Sleuths attached to the investigation arm of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment yesterday busted a bogus foreign manpower recruiting agency in Maradana and took into custody 293 passports along with other documents.

SLBFE Chairman Kingsley Ranawaka told the Daily News that the recruitment agency had been operating since 2006 without a valid licence since they had not renewed their contract from 2006.

According to Ranawaka operating without a valid licence to recruit people for foreign employment is banned under Sri Lankan law and is a punishable offence.

According to Bureau sources, the agency might have duped unsuspecting job seekers swindling large sums of money with the promise of lucrative opportunities mainly in the Middle East.

The job and personal security of migrant workers who seek employment through these bogus agents are also in danger as they are sent without proper protocol, sources said.

In such cases the intervention of the Bureau on behalf of the beleaguered workers is difficult because they are not properly registered with the Authorities, Ranawaka said.

Ranawaka yesterday warned job seekers in foreign countries to be vigilant and check the validity of their source of employment.

He added that anybody who seeks the help of a private agent to secure employment abroad had the right to clarify whether they had valid authority to operate as a recruiting agent.

They could also seek help from the Bureau for clarifications regarding their proposed employment opportunity and should contact the correct authority, he added.

The Chairman said that he had advised the investigation division to intensify raids to crackdown on offenders with many such incidents coming to the fore recently and that severe penalties would be enforced in addition to seeking intervention from a court of law.

Sri Lanka’s export income is dependent on migrant worker remittances which constitutes 35 per cent of the total revenue and this too is on the increase, according to latest statistics.

Thus culprits over the years have exploited loopholes in the system earning vast sums of money at the expense of unsuspecting job seekers abroad.

The Chairman said they were in the process of creating an effective mechanism to strengthen the system with possible amendments to the 1985 Act on Foreign Employment.

The latest raid was carried out by SLBFE officers P.Dayarathne, Palitha Seneviratne with the help of enforcers Ostyn Silva and N.D. Premarathna.