A total of 76 dependents of deceased Lankan workers in the Kingdom got 41 million rupees in compensation from the Saudi sponsors of their parents during the first half of this year, the Sri Lankan Embassy announced.

“The funds, sent from the Riyadh Embassy, were distributed among the beneficiaries by Deputy Minister of External Affairs, Neomal Perera, at a function held in Colombo,” a senior official from the Riyadh mission said.

Besides beneficiaries of Riyadh migrant workers, the deputy minister also distributed compensation to others whose husbands were working in countries, such as Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan.

C.K. Dissanayake, wife of a deceased migrant worker Saman Priyantha, said she, along with her three sons, was left alone since her husband, who worked as a driver in Saudi Arabia, died.

“I only expect that the government would help them continue with their education. I have got my mother to assist me in a little way, but that is hardly enough,” she said.

“I am thankful to the ministry for obtaining this money from my husband’s employer,” she said.

There are some 550,000 Sri Lankan workers living in the Kingdom and a good number of them are domestic helpers.

Sri Lanka has the largest concentration of its Middle East workers in the Kingdom.