Jobs in the West

The Foreign Employment Bureau is to encourage prospective women migrant workers to secure jobs in Western Countries.

According to our front page news story yesterday over 100,000 women workers go abroad to work as housemaids every year but the Government is looking at ways for our women workers to acquire a higher grade of skills to make them eligible for short term work contracts in a new set of countries.

This certainly is a salutary move that would see an end to the culture of housemaids which have been the lot of our women migrant workers since the beginning of the Middle East job boom in the mid seventies.

The move will also accord dignity and respect to this hitherto exploited segment which has been taken for granted by the public. It would also mark a sea change in the attitudes displayed towards our migrant women workers giving them a place in society.

This is not in any way to cast aspersions on Middle East countries. Thanks to the opportunities provided by these countries today a sizable section of Sri Lankans are living comfortable lives delivered from the possible spectre of poverty.

It has also helped in the economic emancipation of large swathes of families in backward villagers and transformed their lives for the better.

On the other side of the coin many a Lankan lass had to endure unspeakable ordeals at the hands of their employers with some of them returning home in coffins.

This would not have been the case had this women commanded stature through ability and skills rather than be subject to exploitation due to ignorance.

It is in this context that the Government deserves all praise for taking steps to break the status quo attached to female migrant workers by this attempt to accord them a modicum of respect and dignity that had been trampled on over the years.

In this endeavour the FEB is planning to upgrade the skill levels of prospective female migrant workers to fit in with the exacting demands of the Western countries.

The recent call for our members of the nursing profession to hospitals in California is an indication of the opportunities that beckon our Lankan women who are equipped with the necessary skills and expertise.

In any event it is time that our women who were hitherto straitjacketed into domestic help in the Middle Eastern countries look far afield and equip themselves to take on bigger challenges beyond the realms of the beaten track. For too long have our women suffered the indignities of having the label “Housemaid” affixed to them.

Sri Lanka has certainly has come of age in the development of the professions and many of our Lankans today are able to hold their own with the best in the world in varied fields.

This is even reflected in the realm of sports where Sri Lanka has challenged the established order and gone onto breach new frontiers.

Lankan doctors and engineers are going places in many Western countries working alongside the best of exponents.

For example, only recently there was a big demand from the Kuwaiti Government for Lankan experts including architects and engineers for a mega housing programme planned by that country.

All this shows that Sri Lanka has moved a long way in the modern world and is now even capable of offering its expertise to the outside world.

Hence there is no reason why our women should wallow in the doldrums as housemaids when they could make acquit themselves well on par with their male counterparts.

It is taking cognisance of this possibility that the Government decided to commence training programmes in new vocations for prospective women job seekers to give them an opportunity to break into new vistas of employment and make them slough off the label of ‘Housemaid’.

In its attempt to procure job opportunities in the West the Government will have to give these women a through training to fit in with the tough demands required. They would also have to be trained to fit in with different social and cultural setups.

Most Lankan women in the Middle East got into trouble chiefly because of their failure to adapt to their new environment. Our embassies in the West could help our women acclimatise in unfamiliar surroundings.

There should also be constant liaison between the FEB and these embassies on the job opportunities available. The high earnings in the West could also mean enhanced remittances which would boost the country’s forex earnings.

While welcoming the move by the FEB to promote our women into a higher plane vis-a-vis overseas employment we should also be cautious in ensuring our skilled labour is not lost to the country.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been constantly inviting our skilled professionals domiciled overseas to be partners of the country’s development drive. This factor should not be lost sight of in any project to secure overseas jobs for Lankans.