RIYADH, 23 June 2004 — Colombo will compensate the Sri Lankan victims of the Alkhobar terror attacks on May 29.

“The Sri Lankan government will give suitable compensation for the seven Sri Lankans held hostage by the terrorists in the Oasis compound in the Eastern Province,” the chairman of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), Karunasena Hettiarachi, told Arab News.

The SLBFE functions under the Ministry of Labor Relations and Foreign Employment and looks after the island’s overseas workers. The chairman was on a brief visit to the Kingdom to meet the Sri Lankan workers here.

Hettiarachi, who met Deputy Minister of Labor Abdullah Al-Bawardi, said the families of the Sri Lankans killed in the attack would also receive compensation.

Chandana Pradeep Anthony and Sivasubramaniam were killed while Mohammed Anees from Matale, Mohamed Fareed from Galle, Mohammed Shaheed from Negombo, Mohammed Muhajireen from Alutgama and Mohamed Imtiaz from Colombo were freed.

The owner of the Oasis Compound had already pledged to pay lifetime salaries to the next-of-kin of the two dead Sri Lankans. “Those who have undergone the agony of being hostages also should be compensated,” Hettiarachi said.

He said the survivors were “re-born” on the day of their escape, and it was right for the government to offer them financial assistance to make them more comfortable in their workplaces.

But the chairman was keen to allay fears of Sri Lankans in the Kingdom, saying the Saudi authorities ensured maximum safety for all the expatriate workers.

“If there is a crisis situation we will tell (Sri Lankans) what to do,” Hettiarachi added.

The chairman also signed a unified contract with the Saudi Arabian National Recruiting Committee (SANARCOM) to minimize problems between employers and employees.

The agreement was inked by SANARCOM Chairman Waleed Al-Suwaidan and the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Foreign Employment Agencies (ALFEA) in Colombo Suraj Dandeniya.

Al-Suwaidan told Arab News that under the new accord, Sri Lanka will provide special training programs to domestic workers to reduce the number of maids running away from their employers.

Sri Lanka is the second country to sign a unified contract with the Kingdom after Bangladesh. The island has some 350,000 workers in the Kingdom.