Women migrants encouraged to look for jobs in Europe
COLOMBO: The Government is seeking to encourage women migrants to
look for jobs in European countries instead of in the Gulf because of
persistent complaints of mistreatment and poor working conditions.
Over 100,000 women workers go abroad to work as housemaids every
year, but the Government is now looking at ways for women workers to
acquire a higher grade of skills to make them eligible for short-term
work contracts in a new set of countries.
The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment, plans to direct migrant
job seekers to countries in the European Union, Canada, Australia, South
Korea and Japan where there is a need for semi-skilled and skilled
workers.
The main destinations for the women workers have been Saudi Arabia,
the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait. As the skill shortages are
likely to increase in the European countries, temporary migration of
workers is being seen as a solution to the labour shortages there.
The need for foreign workers will grow over time, especially as the
young adults in these countries are reluctant to take up the relatively
low paid and labour intensive jobs.
The Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment received over 3,000
complaints last year from women working as housemaids for breach of
contract, harassment and unpaid or underpaid wages.
Earlier this year, the Government had decreed a rise in pay for
household workers by 15 percent in their work contracts, but the
complaints of harassment and non-payment of full dues have continued.
The continuing round of complaints is forcing the Sri Lankan
authorities to look for different means of livelihood for women
migrants.
Sri Lankan women workers send back a significant part of the $2.5
billion that Sri Lanka receives as remittances from overseas migrant
workers. Remittances are a major foreign exchange earner for Sri Lanka.
According to Saritha, who returned after a two-year stint in
Singapore, because of the difficult conditions in Sri Lanka, families
had to depend on money sent by relatives.
Destinations like Singapore and Hong Kong require additional training
and skills, but working conditions are better there for household help
than in the Gulf countries, Saritha explained, as wages depend on the
amount of work to be done, the size of the house, number of residents,
the hours of work and the maid’s experience.
Saritha would not like her younger sister, Vanitha, to go to the Gulf
countries as a maid though the labour agent has offered her a good deal.
“There are too many stories about ill-treatment and not paying full
wages,” she said, adding: “I can pay for training for Vanitha from my
savings so she gets a better job.”
Sri Lanka already has training institutes like the Mount Lavinia
school for maids in Colombo which prepare women migrants for jobs as
housemaids in different countries, giving them practical training and
lessons in cultural sensitivity.
All women going to countries in the Gulf region have to take a basic
languages course and learn cooking and handling household appliances.
Several countries in Europe require nurses and healthcare providers for
tending their ageing population.
There is a shortage of caregivers for a large section of elderly
people who live on their own but whose mobility is restricted due to
age. A special training course can prepare prospective migrants with
requisite training and certification to go to Europe on fixed time
contracts.
IANS
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