Foreign Ministry considers repatriating Sri Lankans in Maldives, Kuwait, Middle- East, Bangladesh
May 08, 2020The Foreign Relations and Foreign Employment Ministry is considering the possibilities of repatriating Sri Lankans in Maldives, Kuwait, Middle East, Bangladesh and other countries due to coronavirus pandemic, which is spreading around the world at a rapid pace.
Foreign Ministry Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha in an interview with Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation has explained about the newly approved Cabinet Paper on addressing the vulnerable sectors of the migrant labour category of overseas Sri Lankans by the Government amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the Foreign Ministry’s view had been that once the return was allowed and repatriation started, it should be done on the basis of maximum vulnerability.
The new Cabinet Paper presented by Minister of Foreign Relations, Skills Development, Employment and Labour Relations Dinesh Gunawardena was approved by the Cabinet, yesterday.
Aryasinha said the repatriation of South Asian students, which was given priority, had been concluded and the government, which would continue to bring back students from other countries, had also helped several other students also to return to the country due to coronavirus threat in their respective countries.
“In our original Cabinet Paper we emphasized that our foreign migrant workers are a category which are in dire straits in certain countries and that therefore in parallel with any student movements that we must also pay special attention to them and facilitate their return,” he said adding that Sri Lankans between 1,200-1,500 living in the Maldives are also a vulnerable group for coronavirus threat.
He said Minister Gunawardena was negotiating with his counterparts in Kuwait and Middle-East to bring back Sri Lankans to the country while also looking possibilities to repatriate Sri Lankan expatriates working in places like Bangladesh, where coronavirus was spreading at a very rapid pace.
“There are more than a thousand people there, out of which about 300 plus are women and children. We will similarly focus on repatriating vulnerable migrant worker categories from the Middle East and elsewhere,” he said.