Less females leaving as maids

Rasika SOMARATHNA

Sri Lankan females seeking jobs as housemaids in the Middle East dropped below 40 percent, Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign employment (SLBFE) sources said.

In contrast, statistics show Sri Lankans migrating for skilled jobs increasing by 50 percent which is attributed by the SLBFE to the successful training programme it has afforded to prospective migrant workers in specialised vocations.

Foreign Employment Minister Dilan Perera said they want to discourage women migrating for jobs as domestic aides and have focused on increasing skilled migrant workers and finding more opportunities for them.

Of the 1.8 million Sri Lankans working overseas, nearly 45 percent are females.

Meanwhile, there is a cloud hanging over sending Sri Lankan females as domestic aides to Jordan with the latter not agreeing to certain conditions, including a stipulated minimum wage for migrant domestic workers proposed by Lankan authorities.

Earlier, local authorities said they would not hesitate to stop sending housemaids to Jordan if the terms are not agreed upon. A SLBFE official said the matter was under discussion.

Meanwhile, SLBFE authorities took steps to suspend transactions with over 600 job agents in several labour receiving countries accused of various malpractices during the last one and a half years.

SLBFE officials advised local foreign employment agents to refrain from engaging in any transactions with these elements . In 2011, the SLBFE suspended dealings with 445 job agents in labour receiving countries with the highest being in Saudi Arabia (166).