Lankan migrant workers ‘not hit by global economic crisis’
Anjana Samarasinghe
There was no major impact on Sri Lankan migrant workers due to the
global economic crisis, said DGM Welfare and Research, Sri Lanka Bureau
of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) M. Deshapriya.
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Sri Lankan migrant workers at the Katunayake airport |
Around 25,2021 Sri Lankans secured foreign employment last year
compared to 21,8459 in 2007. There is no decline in the demand for
foreign employment, he said.
However, we noticed a slight decline in the number of departures last
month due to an issue with foreign employment agents. But we believe
that this situation will be back to normal soon. This year we are
targeting over 260,000 departures.
Libya is the new market that migrant workers expect to venture this
year. There is a big demand for doctors, nurses and trainers in the
hospitality industry. Canada and Italy are the other lucrative markets,
he said.
Migrant workers contribute heavily to the country’s GDP growth and
this segment is one of the main foreign exchange earners.
According to the latest statistics of the SLBFE, 123,200 females
secured foreign employment out of the total number of departures and the
remaining were males. Most markets demand skilled labour and last year a
large number of skilled workers went abroad for employment.
The Middle East is one of the main markets for Sri Lanka and there
were 67,806 migrant workers last year to Saudi Arabia which accounted
for the highest number of Sri Lankan migrant workers in the region.
About 52,000 secured employment in the UAE in 2008.
There were 47,168 migrant workers for Kuwait and 39,543 migrant
workers for Qatar last year.
The total number of migrant workers to Lebanon for employment last
year was 10,487. Migrant workers for markets such as Hong Kong, Malaysia
and Singapore accounted for less than one per cent of the total number
of migrant workers last year. |
