‘Let’s appreciate migrant labour’

Today is the 13th annual International Migrants Day. It is celebrated at a time when a suitable environment is being crated to recognize the labour of International Migrant Workers, to protect their rights, and to build a better future for them.

Sri Lankan migrant workers in many countries contribute immensely to the economy of their motherland. Most of the migrant workers are women, a media release from Action Network for Migrant Workers said. The release: In spite of difficulties faced by migrant women domestic workers, they set out for foreign lands for the purpose of building up the economy.

The majority opinion of our society is that with the departure of the mother, the family is ruined, while a mother with children of less then five years of age should not leave the family. Society forgets that the family responsibility is with the father when the mother goes to foreign land carrying the burden of the family.

Only the tragic aspect of the migrant workers’ life is highlighted daily. It is true that migrant workers face hardships, but we can see successful migrant workers who have achieved success. There are fathers and relatives who have brought up children and built up their families. There should be a survey of success stories. The positive results of the women migrant workers can be brought to light by the survey.

It is important to formulate an action plan for psychosocial benefit of the migrant workers and their families who are earning foreign exchange.

The responsibility of the government is implementing the laws and policies that safeguard the migrant workers who are contributing foreign exchange to the country. While building up all governmental and non-governmental sectors for this, supporting for such action plan is the responsibility of everybody.