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President’s Counsel and MP Faiszer Musthapha submitted a Private Member’s Bill seeking amendments to the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment Act to strengthen legal protection and emergency assistance for Sri Lankan migrant workers facing distress overseas.
In a letter to the Secretary-General of Parliament, Musthapha notified his intention to introduce the proposed Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (Amendment) Bill as a Private Member’s Bill.
The proposed legislation seeks to make comprehensive pre-departure training compulsory for all registered migrant workers, covering the cyber laws of destination countries, cultural literacy and legal provisions governing social media use.
A key provision seeks to establish a statutory right to State-funded legal representation and safe passage for registered Sri Lankan migrant workers verified to be in distress.
Under the proposed amendments, the State would be required to provide legal representation through lawyers qualified to practise in the relevant host country, cover legal expenses and arrange return travel, including economy-class air tickets, transit arrangements and emergency medical clearance.
The Bill identifies specific circumstances that would qualify a migrant worker as being in distress. These include non-payment of contractual salaries for three consecutive months, documented physical, psychological or sexual abuse, premature or illegal termination of employment contracts, and armed conflict, severe political unrest or natural disasters in the host country.
It also proposes empowering the Minister to introduce regulations governing applications for assistance, legal representation and safe passage, and to establish a committee to review and determine such applications.
The proposed amendments could significantly change the State’s responsibilities towards Sri Lankans employed overseas by shifting emergency legal assistance and repatriation from an administrative or discretionary response to a statutory obligation. They would also place greater emphasis on preparing migrant workers for the legal and cultural environments of their destination countries.
If enacted, the legislation could strengthen the protection available to migrant workers and their families while increasing the Government’s financial and administrative responsibilities for dealing with overseas employment-related emergencies. Its implementation would require effective coordination between the Foreign Employment Bureau, Sri Lankan diplomatic missions and relevant authorities in destination countries.
The proposed amendments would apply to the recruitment of Sri Lankans for overseas employment by private-sector undertakings and public corporations.
The Bill seeks to amend the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment Act, No. 21 of 1985, by introducing a new Section 48A setting out the proposed rights and obligations.
