Stop sending Lankan women to ME as housemaids - Lakmawa Diyaniyo

Ishara Mudugamuwa

The Lakmawa Diyaniyo organization urged from the government to stop the sending of Sri Lankan women to the Middle East for employment as housemaids.

Addressing the media at "Sawsiripaya" yesterday, Lakmawa Diyaniyo National Leader Priyanga Kothalawala said the government should stop the migration of Sri Lankan women as house maids to the Middle East.

She also requests to ensure safety of housemaids working in the Middle East.

" Large numbers of housemaids from India work in the Middle East. But the government of India has made it compulsory to deposit money for their return tickets when they need to return to the country. So Indian housemaids can return home, if they have to face problems." Kothalawala said.

She also said that about 300 housemaids who faced harassment, live in homes attached to Sri Lankan embassies in Middle East countries. President Mahinda Rajapaksa had recently taken measures to repatriate some of these housemaids.

"Rizana's death is only one of the serious cases faced by Sri Lankan housemaids. There are no proper statistics on inhuman incidents faced by Sri Lankan women in Middle East," she said.

She also stated that poverty was the only reason for Rizana to go abroad as a housemaid. Most of the housemaids are uneducated women from underprivileged families and select this job as they have no other way to earn money.

"The President and the Government made every effort to secure the release of Rizana.The President recalled Sri Lankan ambassador to Saudi Arabia with immediate effect to express the country's displeasure over the execution of Rizana. So, the only solution is stop the migration of housemaids." she said.