Colombo – IOM will organize a workshop on labour migration research and foreign employment recruitment monitoring at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute in Colombo on Monday, 14th March.

The event, which will be chaired by Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare (MFEPW), Col. Nishanka Wijeratne, will focus on the issue of foreign recruitment monitoring and will share the findings of a recent IOM study: Foreign Labour Migration Prospects for Sri Lanka.

"Sri Lankan migrant workers are the highest foreign exchange earners for Sri Lanka.  Safeguarding their rights and providing adequate welfare and protection for them and their family members is a priority of the Ministry of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare and IOM intends to support them in achieving these goals," says IOM Sri Lanka Chief of Mission Richard Danziger.

The Ministry of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare has launched a number of initiatives, including a proposal to introduce a Migrant Workers' Charter, and a proposal to increase the minimum age of migrant workers from 18 to 21, as part of a plan to develop a higher-skilled Sri Lankan overseas labour force.

Another recent initiative is the Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE)'s new Migrant Resource Centre, which provides regularly updated information to Sri Lankans interested in working abroad and to their families.

As part of the Centre's activities, IOM and SLBFE will be organizing ten awareness-raising seminars across the island and producing and distributing a video and handbook on safe migration and guidance on how best to prepare for employment overseas.

As part of the ongoing cooperation between the Government of Sri Lanka and IOM, government representatives will be attending the IOM-organized Regional Conference and Market Place for Labour Migration in Jaipur, India later this month, along with representatives from the governments of India, Bangladesh and several European countries.

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For further information please contact: Udara Soysa, IOM Colombo, Tel: +94.11.532.5300, E-mail: usoysa@iom.int