Over 13,000 Sri Lanka migrant workers back home since pandemic crisis began

COLOMBO: More than 13,000 Sri Lankan migrant workers have returned home because of the pandemic, Labor Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva told Parliament.

The Lankan migrant workers would be brought home gradually as decided by the National Operations Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOPCO), he added.

Answering a question raised by Badulla District SJB MP Chaminda Wijesiri, the minister said that the decisions pertaining to bringing back migrant workers home were taken by the NOPCO.

The minister said that if a Lankan worker registered at the FEB died of COVID-19, the bureau would intervene to get compensation to the family members of the victim migrant worker.

So far, 68 such registered Lankan workers had died abroad due to COVID-19 and their final rites took place in the countries where they died.

In addition, six Sri Lankan migrant workers whose registration with FEB had expired had died abroad due to the pandemic and their dependents had applied for compensation. Family members of one of those six had been paid Rs 300,000 by the Employees Provident Fund.

The minister said that as at Nov.13, 13,181 Lankan migrant workers had returned home because of the pandemic and the FEB had computerized the records of 6,667 of them so far.

Out of them 2,163 were planning to return to their work places while 1,617 intended to work in Sri Lanka; 654 would opt for self-employment, 64 had decided to undergo further training and 2,159 had decided to do various other things.