The Migration team of Caritas Sri Lanka – SEDEC compiled a Position Paper for the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) in consultation with Deep Impact Partners (DIPs) of the Safe Labour Migration Project (SLMP) funded by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
The Position Paper was handed over to Mr. P. P. Weerasekera, Deputy General Manager – Social Development, SLBFE (Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment) by Mr. Sajith Silva, Programme Manager, Ms. Beula Fernando, Migration Officer SLMP of Caritas Sri Lank and Mr. Emmanuel Eimackshan, National Project Officer, SDC on 11th September 2019.
The report contained a number of recommendations and suggestions based on years of work and research carried out by the DIPs and other National level partners such as Caritas Sri Lanka and Helvetas.
During the last Partner Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting held on 28th of March 2019, issues and problems faced by the migrants and their family members, especially in the areas of compensation were discussed in great detail. In addition, as an outcome of this meeting, it was suggested that Caritas Sri Lanka (CSL) could take up the specific cases with the Welfare Division of SLBFE at a follow-up meeting.
This follow-up meeting was held on 4th of June 2019 and during the course of the discussion, it was suggested that Caritas Sri Lanka to compile a report based on the field level experience for the consideration of SLBFE. Meanwhile in preparation to the Partner Exchange Platform (PEP) in June, a research was carried out by the DIPs in 5 districts namely Gampaga, Batticaloa, Ampara, Nuwara Eliya and Kurunegla to identify the plight of the returnee migrants. The findings of this research are also included in the position paper to be addressed, especially in the policy framework pertaining to the welfare matters of the labour migrants and their family members.
The following organizations collaborated in compiling the Position Paper.
