RIYADH: The Sri Lanka government on Monday pledged to take tough action against errant job agencies which it said have formed a mafia on the island.
Deputy Foreign Minister Harsha de Silva made this statement while awarding compensations to the next of kin of those workers who died or were physically handicapped due to accidents in the Kingdom. The minister recently visited the Kingdom.
“The Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment has not filed even a single case against any of the errant foreign job agencies,” the deputy minister said.
“They have blacklisted agencies but have not been able to take even a single agent to court,” he said alleging that some elements in authority are also involved in the racket.
“I am sure there is some ‘relationship.’ There would have been for a long time. Anybody found complicit in this I will personally deal with them,” de Silva said. According to the deputy minister, job agents charge employers SR25,000 for each Sri Lankan sent to work in Saudi Arabia through the agency, while agent fees charged from all other nations remained less than SR15,000.
However, the salary paid to Sri Lankan workers remain the lowest at SR1,125 (Rs 45,000), while other nationalities obtained close to SR1,500.
The deputy minister alleged that there has been an “agency mafia” operating for a long time in the country which has been exploiting unsuspecting workers who depend on them to find work.
The Saudi government has offered 20,000 more jobs for Sri Lankans, following Deputy Foreign Minister Harsha de Silva’s visit to Saudi Arabia.
The government is planning to change the approach to send more trained and skilled workers such as lab technicians and other health care professionals, instead of sending low-skilled workers for domestic service, de Silva said.
Deputy Foreign Minister Harsha de Silva made this statement while awarding compensations to the next of kin of those workers who died or were physically handicapped due to accidents in the Kingdom. The minister recently visited the Kingdom.
“The Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment has not filed even a single case against any of the errant foreign job agencies,” the deputy minister said.
“They have blacklisted agencies but have not been able to take even a single agent to court,” he said alleging that some elements in authority are also involved in the racket.
“I am sure there is some ‘relationship.’ There would have been for a long time. Anybody found complicit in this I will personally deal with them,” de Silva said. According to the deputy minister, job agents charge employers SR25,000 for each Sri Lankan sent to work in Saudi Arabia through the agency, while agent fees charged from all other nations remained less than SR15,000.
However, the salary paid to Sri Lankan workers remain the lowest at SR1,125 (Rs 45,000), while other nationalities obtained close to SR1,500.
The deputy minister alleged that there has been an “agency mafia” operating for a long time in the country which has been exploiting unsuspecting workers who depend on them to find work.
The Saudi government has offered 20,000 more jobs for Sri Lankans, following Deputy Foreign Minister Harsha de Silva’s visit to Saudi Arabia.
The government is planning to change the approach to send more trained and skilled workers such as lab technicians and other health care professionals, instead of sending low-skilled workers for domestic service, de Silva said.
