Bid to curb illegal migration for jobs

Rasika SOMARATHNA

COLOMBO: The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) said yesterday it had combined forces with the Immigration\ Emigration Department and Police to counter the spate of malpractices pertaining to the recruitment of Lankan overseas job seekers.

According to SLBFE sources, a joint bid has been launched which would be spearheaded by the Bureau to stamp out illegal activities such as child trafficking, human smuggling, forged documentation to obtain passports, rogue recruitment agents, illegal migration etc.

During the first 45 days, SLBFE sleuths nabbed 33 offenders and according to sources a majority had been caught with forged documents.

Law enforcement authorities heeding a request by Foreign Employment and Welfare Minister Keheliya Rambukwella has taken steps to appoint two policemen from every police division to exclusively handle such complaints pertaining to foreign employment and illegal migration.

According to sources, authorities are planning to file cases in a Court of Law against such offenders for violating the immigration and emigration law.

SLBFE Chairman Kingsley Ranawaka said yesterday that emphasis would also be laid on plugging loopholes in the system with effective new laws and the possible revision of the 1985 Act on Foreign Employment. Information technology is to play a major role with a comprehensive data-base system connecting relevant departments to foil abusers from exploiting lacunas.

Sri Lanka’s foreign exchange earnings is heavily dependent on migrant worker remittances which last year stood at 35 per cent.

But the figure is on the rise this year and it stands around 40 per cent according to latest statistics.

SLBFE recently announced it had recorded an unprecedented 500 per cent growth in revenue during the first five months this year earning Rs. 212 million in comparison to Rs. 40 million for the same period the previous year.

Thus the foreign employment sector over the year’s has become a huge money spinner especially for private recruitment agents with Sri Lanka possessing ample personnel who seek greener pastures abroad due to poverty and lack of employment\knowledge.

Thus over the years culprits, have made this an opportunity to earn vast sums at the expense of unsuspecting foreign employment seekers sometimes duping them with false promises an at times forging documents to obtain travel documents.

The SLBFE recently nabbed six teenaged girls who were to be sent to the Middle East as house maids using forged documents.

According to Ranawaka, one girl had walked into the SLBFE sub-office in Maradana describing her plight, as she was to be sent abroad against her will.Meanwhile, a 14 year old Sri Lankan girl working as a house maid in Jordan was deported last week by Jordanian authorities, as she was found to be under age and in possession of forged documents.

The case of teenager Rizana Nafeek, facing execution in Saudi Arabia, for the alleged murder of an infant, could be considered as a prime example of the plight of under aged girls sent on false documents abroad, sources said.

In addition, four teenaged boys had been deported recently by Singaporean authorities after being found with forged passports falsifying their age.

According to analysts, this is just the tip of the ice-berg with a vast majority of such cases passing through undetected which in turn has had a negative impact on the social fabric since many such teenagers end up in the wrong hands having to face numerous abuses including forced prostitution and slavery.

According to sources, several other initiatives are in the offing with a special training facility for officers, a center to help the affected and a special detection unit to arrest the situation.

The SLBFE has also set up a special investigation unit to nab rogue recruitment agents and has also proposed stiff penalties for licensed agents who engage in malpractices.

According to a recent US survey, Sri Lanka has been identified as possessing all ingredients necessary for human trafficking, but according to local authorities the situation is not that alarming like some Asian countries, but effective measures are needed before the issue gets out of hand.