JEDDAH, 1 April 2003 — The Sri Lankan diplomatic mission yesterday announced a contingency plan for its nationals because of the US-led war on Iraq.
“The plan primarily aims at Sri Lankan expats likely to come here from Kuwait if things get worse,” Consul General A.C.M. Ibrahim told reporters.
There are about 200,000 Sri Lankans in Kuwait, none of whom has shown interest in returning home so far. “Our plan will be in force as soon as we see our expats coming here from Kuwait,” Ibrahim said.
Several committees and subcommittees in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and elsewhere will assist incoming Kuwaiti expats and repatriate them to Colombo.
Subcommittees for accommodation, food, medical, transportation and repatriation have been set up in all major cities in cooperation with local expat societies of the Sri Lankan community. Expat society leaders Zaki Abdul Latif, Afzal Riyal, Mohammed Dilshad, Dr. Maarof Haj Mohideen and Shanta D’Silva respectively head the subcommittees. Those who have lost their passports will be issued emergency travel documents to be able to go back home.
Funds totaling 150 million Sri Lankan rupees have been earmarked for the contingency plan — 50 million by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesighe and 100 million by the Sri Lankan Foreign Employment Bureau. “There will be more as the situation demands,” he added.
A round-the-clock help line has been set up at the Jeddah Consulate as well as in Madinah, Jizan and Yanbu.
The Sri Lankan expat population in the Kingdom is in excess of 350,000, nearly 120,000 of them in the Western Province.