Foreign job racket busted: two arrested

Rasika SOMARATHNA

Two suspects who swindled millions of rupees by duping employment seekers in South Korea were arrested by Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) sleuths.

SLBFE sources said the suspects armed with forged documents had obtained Rs 250,000 each from several people who were in line for jobs in South Korea promising to obtain their job contracts at the earliest possible time.

At the time of the arrest the suspects were in possession of forged documents including ones which showed that they were registered agents of the SLBFE to mislead the migrant worker hopefuls.

In the Sri Lankan foreign employment market, Korea ranks high as the salary provided for migrant labourers in Korea is high in comparison to the Middle East. SLBFE Chief Kingsley Ranawaka said the responsibility of providing employment opportunities in South Korea is totally vested with his organization.

He warned all prospective migrants in search of employment or otherwise to be vigilant and verify details from the proper authorities.

Hotline

SLBFE officials could be reached through their hot line 011-2880500 or information seekers could use the SLBFE website www.slbfe.lk for details, Ranawaka said.

When choosing Labour Migrants to Korea the prospective applicants have to pass a language test and a medical fitness exam and they are subjected to a 12 day in-house training on various aspects related to employment in Korea, including a rigorous physical training course.

According to SLBFE there are more than 3,000 qualified candidates waiting in the wings for viable employment opportunities in South Korea.

In recent times there has been a delay in the recruitment process due to lack of requests from the Korean side mainly because of the impact of the global economic recession on its industries.

However, according to SLBFE this negative impact has passed away and they are getting the usual quota from Korea at present but still a delay exists due to the long waiting list, which the arrested suspects have taken advantage of.