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| Sri Lankan workers prepare to depart from Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake on February 5, 2023. (Source: Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Department) |
The purpose of setting up the safe migration promotion unit is to prevent Sri Lankans who go abroad to work from becoming victims of human trafficking, said Minister of Labour and Overseas Employment Manusha Nanayakkara on August 21.
Earlier, the minister announced that the government plans to digitize the entire foreign employment service center to combat human trafficking.
In recent years, Sri Lanka has seen a surge in people applying for passports to work abroad, from domestic help to professional jobs, as the country faces its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.
Sri Lankans pursuing their dreams abroad risk falling prey to people traffickers, experts warn.
Labor export plays an important role in the Sri Lankan economy and is also an important source of foreign exchange for the country. Remittances averaged 5.7% of GDP during the period 1981-2000, and this figure increased to about 8% in the following two decades.
In the first four months of 2023, Sri Lankan migrant workers remitted more than $1.8 billion back home.
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