The Foreign Affairs Ministry has taken steps to launch a special investigation with immediate effect regarding a racket of taking people to Kuwait with the promise of employment and abandoning them.
The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Kuwait has informed the Deputy Inspector General of Trincomalee in writing through the Foreign Affairs Ministry to conduct an investigation in this regard and in addition, the Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment, the Inspector General of Police, the Director General of the
Consular Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Bureau of the Minister of Foreign Affairs as well as the State Minister’s office have also been informed in writing Nine people have left for work in Kuwait through an employment agent in Kinniya, but they have had to face various problems there and since the day of employment, they have complained to the embassy about non-payment of wages, non-provision of food, assaults and physical torture, the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Kuwait said. The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Kuwait said that although he is a registered agent of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau, he has sent persons for employment in an illegal manner through the employment agency and some people in Kuwait have been providing support to the agency in connection with this.
Complaints have been made to the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Kuwait regarding the injustices meted out to this group of people who went there for employment and among the nine Sri Lankans who suffered such injustice, three who are said to be friends and relatives of the employment agent have been brought back to Sri Lanka on December 14 and the remaining persons are still in Kuwait, the Embassy said.
However, due to the sponsor’s unwillingness to resolve this issue amicably between the two parties, the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Kuwait has complained to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait in this regard and it has been discovered that these Sri Lankans have been taken to Kuwait on a voluntary basis for a period of two years. Accordingly, it is reported that an agreement has been signed to provide a monthly salary of 120 Kuwaiti dinars and it has been registered with the Ministry of Employment and Welfare. The Sri Lankan Embassy in Kuwait said that the people who left for jobs have paid Rs.270,000 to the relevant employment agency for medical, insurance and air tickets and have found money through pawning gold items, selling property and borrowing money.
However, External Affairs State Minister Tharaka Balasuriya, requests that if one is going to work abroad, one should be aware of such rackets and only go abroad through a reliable and registered employment agency.
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