Sri Lanka’s foreign currency reserves have shown a remarkable increase in recent months. One of the main reasons for this positive trend is the increase in remittances by expatriate Sri Lankan workers, in addition to the surge in tourism and fiscal restructuring facilities extended by bilateral lenders and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
However, the migrant labour sphere also underwent a significant transformation in recent years. After lapse of three years – first the Covid pandemic and then the economic downturn – Sri Lankan migration resumed in a bigway last year.
With the sudden increase of migration by labour has created new challenges and issues. Most these issues are common to all the South Asian countries. Irregular migration is commonly taken place in these countries. Trafficking of persons remains a serious concern, although data and information are scarce. One major issue is that under the pretence of high-paying employment opportunities many migrant workers are highly vulnerable to forced labour, experiencing excessive working hours, confiscation of passports, withheld wages, denial of food and medical care, and physical and psychological abuse. Most trafficking victims were identified with female victims of forced labour in domestic work in the Middle East countries.
Migrant rights
These issues came to light at a seminar held last week in Dhaka, Bangladesh to the emerging challenges of labour migration from South Asia. The experts who attended the seminar urged all actors to work together to secure the rights of the migrants.
Speaking as the chief guest, Bangladesh Prime Minister Shaikh Hasina’s Economic Affairs Advisor Dr. Mashiur Rahman spoke about the contribution of labour migrants to the South Asian economy and highlighted Bangladesh’s enthusiasm for working together with other countries.
Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) in collaboration with the Consortium of South Asian Think Tanks (COSATT) and Political Dialogue Asia Programme, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) organised the regional seminar on “Labour Migrants from South Asia: Issues and Concerns” at BIISS auditorium.
Additional Secretary, Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Khairul Alam spoke as special guest.
BIISS Chairman Ambassador AFM Gousal Azam Sarker chaired the inaugural session while Director General of BIISS Major General Md Abu Bakar Siddique Khan and Convener, COSATT Dr. Nishchal N. Pandey delivered welcome remarks.
Regional Programme, Political Dialogue Asia, KAS, Singapore Andreas Klein Director also spoke.
Responsible management
The seminar was divided into two working sessions. The first working session was focused on “Labour Migrants from South Asia: Contemporary Challenges” which was chaired by Dr. Tasneem Siddiqui, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Political Science, University of Dhaka.
The second working session was concentrated on “Addressing Challenges: Regional Cooperation and Partnerships”. It was chaired by Megha Sarmah, Programme Manager 2030 Agenda, KAS, Singapore.
Senior officials from different ministries, diplomats, senior civil and military officials, media, academia, researchers, faculties and students from various universities, and representatives from international organisations participated in the seminar.The experts agreed to collaborate and cooperate on safe, orderly and responsible management of labour migration from South Asia to ensure safety, security and well-being of their migrant workers in the destination countries outside the region.
BIISS Research Officer Dr. Benuka Firdousi said South Asian countries should adopt a common strategy to safeguard the interests of migrant labour and pointed out that the Colombo Process is the best available avenue for a consensual formula. Labour migration from the eleven Member Countries of the Regional Consultative Process on Overseas Employment and Contractual Labour for Countries of Origin in Asia (the Colombo Process) represents a significant share of the total migrant flows from the Asian region. Of the top ten emigration countries worldwide, five are Colombo Process countries (Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan and the Philippines).
Speakers at the seminar said although the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has completed several drafts covering all the issues related to migrant workers and prepared reports on the proposed solution, it has been stalled due to the current deadlock in the regional organisation.
Demand for labour
At the Colombo Process dialogues attention was drawn to the continued structural need and demand for labour migrants globally, in particular in the Middle East. Migration from the region also contributes to socio-economic growth and development in both countries of origin and destination. In economic terms, remittances received by Colombo Process countries more than doubled from USD 84 billion in 2005 to USD 173 billion in 2010. Since the Colombo Process Ministerial Consultation, held in Bali in 2005, Member Countries have made concrete steps to improve the management of labour migration. Indeed, significant progress has been made, such as revised policies and regulations, greater cooperation between Colombo Process countries and key destination countries and the launching of several initiatives, including awareness-raising campaigns, orientation training, recruitment drives, remittance investment and welfare programmes.
At the Dhaka seminar it was highlighted that the South Asian sub-region serves overwhelmingly as an origin of international migrants who move outside of the sub-region, particularly to the Middle East, and also to destinations in South-East Asia, Europe and North America.
The World Bank estimates that out of the 38 million South Asians worldwide, the majority are labour migrants.
In the first decade after independence in 1948, migration from Sri Lanka was limited to the professionals who sought economic opportunities in the United Kingdom.
When Sinhala was made official language in 1956, a substantial number of Dutch, Portuguese, Anglo community known as Ceylonese Burghers migrated to Australia. After the dismantling of quota systems and other discriminatory rules for Asian migrants in Canada, the United States and Australia in the 1960s opened new opportunities and initiated increased labour migration from Southern Asia.
Migration was also fuelled by the 1970s oil price boom, which brought large numbers of contract workers to the Middle East to work on infrastructure and development projects.
The profile of migrants has changed significantly and become more differentiated over time: while in the 1970s the majority of migrants were male and predominantly worked on construction projects as low-skilled labourers, many are employed in semi-skilled or skilled jobs.
Rising demand
Since the 1990s, rising demand for domestic workers in the Middle East and Asia has drastically increased the number of migrant women. In the case of Sri Lanka, women account for more than 50 per cent of emigrants.
During the 5 years from 2012 to 2017, labour migrants from 5 South Asian countries, India Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal recorded annual labour migration ranging from 50,000 to 100,000.
Last year 101,823 skilled workers and 297,656 unskilled workers left Sri Lanka for foreign employment (SLBFE). The reason for the sudden increase is the offer of an incentive by Sri Lankan government to public sector employees a 2 years no-pay leave to go for foreign employment. They also could retain their seniority in the public sector when they report back to work on their return. Nearly, 100,000 public sector employees including professionals such as doctors, engineers, architects have left the countries availing the offer.
While, almost 80,000 Sri Lankan labour migrants in Middle East returned to the country during the Kuwait annexation, the current trend due to Gaza-Israel conflict is totally different. Most of the displaced Sri Lankan workers have sought employment in Israel as there are many new opportunities as Palestinian workers have left or forced out.
Earlier this month, when official discussions were held between Korea and Sri Lanka, the officials informed that of the nearly 100,000 Sri Lankan workers nearly 10% have not left the country after expiry of their work permits. Furthermore, a substantial number of workers who go to Korea as seasonal agricultural labourers for a period of six months continue to work in different farms as illegal workers after expiry of their work permit.
The data coverage in South Asian countries is affected by definitional constraints, by the specific methodologies employed and by the overall quality of data collection. Hence, there is a need for collective action by South Asian countries to face these challenges.
Need for regional cooperation became apparent when a group of Sri Lankans were illegally trafficked to Myanmar via the border with Thailand in December 2023 after being enticed with tourist visas under the pretence of attractive employment opportunities in the Information Technology (IT) industry. They were kept in hideouts and forced to work on international cyber operations. When they made appeals to their kith and kin in Sri Lanka, they sought government intervention to rescue them. However, when Sri Lanka Embassy in Yangoon contacted the Myanmar authorities, they were told that government forces had no access to those cyber camps as they were in the terrorist controlled areas. During military operations, 8 victims – 6 males and 2 females – were rescued and they were handed over to the Embassy and repatriated to Sri Lanka. The victims said there are 46 more Sri Lankans still in those camps working as cyber slaves. These workers had left Sri Lanka without registering with the SLBFE.
Early retirement
In the recent past, few members of elite Sri Lankan armed forces, who sought early retirement, were recruited as mercenaries by Ukraine to fight against the Russians. This came to light when a former Colonel was killed in the battle field and Ukraine awarded him a posthumous bravery award.
The rapid changes in the socio-economic contexts have exacerbated migrant workers’ vulnerability to irregular migration and human trafficking. Lack of awareness on safe migration pathways and the existing national qualification frameworks have also contributed to this.
Further, upon their return to Sri Lanka, many migrant workers face skills and qualification challenges that hinder their ability to secure decent employment opportunities both locally and abroad. Against this backdrop, an acute need has arisen to support Government’s priorities and efforts to mitigate the risks of irregular migration and human trafficking.
Last year, the Government of Sri Lanka has launched a 4-year project and an action plan with national policy priorities on migration for employment. It has also a national strategic action plan to monitor and combat human trafficking.
