Sri Lankan workers bound for foreign employment will now have to pay 5,000 rupees (SR170) instead of the 7,700 rupees (SR226) to the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE).

Employment Minister Thalatha Athukorala said the decision will come into effect on May 1.

The statutory requirement mandates that all foreign workers register themselves with the SLBFE, which in turn will look after the workers’ interests abroad.

This includes repatriation of dead bodies, taking care of the family of women working abroad, and assisting workers in case of disputes with their sponsors.

The new government under the leadership of President Maithripala Sirisena has vowed to ensure welfare of the country’s foreign workers and their families back home.

The minister said that action would be taken to prevent women who have young children from taking up foreign employment.

According to a diplomat at the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh, his mission has not received any intimation from Colombo on the decrease of the SLBFE charges.

However, he explained that the new charges would apply only to workers who are coming to the Kingdom for the first time.

Renewals of the SLBFE registration could be done either in Sri Lanka or in the host country of the worker.

In the Kingdom, Sri Lankan workers can renew their registrations at the island’s missions in Jeddah and Riyadh for SR110.

Some 1.5 million Lankan expats are employed in the Middle East with most of them working as housemaids.

Last year alone, the island’s overseas workers remitted $6 billion to the national coffers of the country.