2010-12-21 16:51:44

Caritas Sri Lanka on International Migrant Day


(December 21, 2010) Caritas Sri Lanka organised a meeting last Friday in the capital, Colombo, to mark International Migrants Day, highlighting the importance of migrant workers for the country’s economy. Among those who attended the December 17 meeting were Holy See’s Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Joseph Spiteri and External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris. In his address, Caritas national director Fr George Sigamony focussed on the many problems migrants face abroad, such as unpaid wages, poor assistance, and harassment. Remittances from Sri Lankans working abroad, he noted, are the second largest source of foreign earnings for the country. Every year about 250,000 Sri Lankans go abroad in search of work, half of them domestic workers. So far this year, 348 died far from their native land. Among women migrant workers, about 10 per cent have complained to the Bureau of Foreign Employment about unpaid wages, poor communications as well as other forms of harassment. Bishop Kingsley Swampillai of Trincomalee-Batticaloa, pointed out, migrants are “a burning issue” that requires correct solutions. As part of its work on behalf of Sri Lankan migrants, Caritas has prepared two brochures in English to help them. One is titled ‘Case studies on Migrants’ and the other ‘Safe Migration’, both which were presented to Minister Peiris at the meeting.







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