Changes in the employment contracts of Sri Lankan housemaids upon their arrival in Saudi Arabia is a major issue that the Sri Lankan government wants to address in cooperation with Saudi authorities, said Keheli Rambukwella, Sri Lankan Minister of Overseas Employment Promotion and Welfare. Rambuwella, who was on a two-day unofficial visit to the Kingdom said a sizable number of Sri Lankan housemaids are forced to work on a reduced monthly basic salary of SR400 or SR450, which is different from the terms of the contracts that they signed in Sri Lanka. The minister said he visited Saudi Arabia to discuss and review the new Saudi labor laws introduced recently and to hold meetings with Sri Lankans working in Saudi Arabia. He said the Sri Lankan government has unilaterally decided a minimum basic monthly salary of SR650, which every recruiting agency in Sri Lanka has to agree to before housemaids are recruited to work in Saudi Arabia. However, the practice of making housemaids sign a new employment contract upon arrival in Saudi Arabia with different terms has been a cause of concern to the Sri Lankan government, he said. “Sri Lankan housemaids are mostly uneducated and due to their ignorance, they are forced to work on a reduced salary,” Rambukwella, who held several meetings with Sri Lankan expatriates working in Saudi Arabia, said. He said that he had raised the issue in talks that he had held with his Saudi counterpart last year. The Saudi minister understood the nature of the problem and agreed to look into the matter, Rambukwella said. Around 350,000 Sri Lankans, mostly domestic helpers are working in Saudi Arabia. There has been a 20 percent increase in the export of Sri Lankan manpower to Saudi Arabia compared to the previous year, the minister said without giving any figures. He, however, said that the Sri Lankans coming to work in Saudi Arabia included a larger number of skilled workers including engineers, doctors, bankers, company CEOs, accountants, technicians and those working in the healthcare sector. “There has been a changing trend in the category of Sri Lankans coming to work in Saudi Arabia from housemaids, and unskilled workers to skilled manpower,” he said. Asked to explain the increased number of crime cases involving Sri Lankan workers in Saudi Arabia, the minister said it would be difficult to attribute any reasons for this. He said the Sri Lankan government will enhance the way training and orientation programs are conducted for manpower coming to work in the Kingdom. “The Sri Lankan government does not interfere with the legal procedures of the host country except to offer its workers legal assistance,” he said. He said the Welfare Section of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh will be equipped with more welfare officers and other things such as computers and Internet lines. “The Sri Lanka government has already approved six computers for the Welfare Section of the Embassy in Riyadh,” Rambukwella, who left Riyadh Thursday, said. SG __
