11,800 Sri Lankans ‘have gone for foreign jobs this year’

COLOMBO: About 45,000 Sri Lankans employed abroad for years had returned to Sri Lanka this year because of the COVID pandemic. Another 35,000 are waiting to come back, said Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB) Additional General Manager W. M. T. Wansekara.

“However, about 11,800 Sri Lankans have gone for foreign jobs this year, too,” he said, according to Daily News.

“If the quarantine regulations are to be relaxed by the Government in the near future, bringing in Sri Lankans from abroad will be easier,” he said.

Meanwhile, Labour Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva said those who have left for employment abroad after duly registering with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) will be repatriated with SLBFE funds if they wish to return.

De Silva said they will also be quarantined using SLBFE funds on their arrival to the country.

Quarantine centers will be established for these returnees in each district, Labour Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva said.

He said the list of identified locations for the quarantine centers across the country has already been submitted to the Special Task Force on COVID-19. All the expenses in these centers will also be borne by the SLBFE.

The minister said around 30,000 Sri Lankan migrant workers have already arrived the country while another 20,000 are still awaiting to return.

The main problem is the lack of space in the existing quarantine centers after they return to the country. That is why we have decided to set up separate quarantine centers for them,” the minister said.