Safety alert for Lankan domestic workers

8 December 2013 02:59 am - 3 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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The relevant authorities in Sri Lanka along with international bodies have reached an agreement to formulate standard service terms focusing on the safety of migrant domestic workers.

This was decided upon at the recently concluded Asia-Gulf states regional dialogue on ‘Standard terms of employment for migrant domestic workers’.

Six Asian states and six Gulf states along with the International Labour Organization (ILO), International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UN Women Affairs participated in the forum.

Dr. Rebecca Tavares, Director, UN Women Affairs, said, "This is not a legally binding document but a model on how future service documents between receiving and sending countries should be formulated when it comes to migrant domestic workers."

The main conclusions of the dialogue were:

*National labour legislation should be in line with international labour laws.
*Contracts should be in a language that is understood by the worker
*The worker must be informed of what to do and whom to turn to in case of an emergency
*The worker must be made aware of the facilities available to him/her in the country of destination, especially when it comes to health and personal safety
* The employer must also agree to terminate the service contract after a maximum of two years if the employee wishes to leave his/her place of employment. In addition to this, the employee has the right to retain all his/her travel documents with him/her at all times.

Ramanadan Balakrishnan, Deputy Director at UN Women Affairs, added: "The most vulnerable group here are women migrant domestic workers and the object of this agreement is to make not only migration but the whole cycle of migration from recruitment to employment safe for women domestic workers."

Nishanka N. Wijeratne, Secretary to the Ministry of External Affairs, said: "We are pleased to inform you that after many attempts to negotiate with the Government of Saudi Arabia, this forum has allowed us to convince the Minister to the Ministry of Labour in Saudi Arabia to sign a service agreement with Sri Lanka. The agreement will be signed by the end of January next year. The service agreement, which applies to all migrant workers to Saudi, will also have a clause for workers' rights based on the Standard Service Agreement we agreed on as a model."(Emirates247)

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Comments - 3

ANTON Sunday, 08 December 2013 06:05 AM

ALERT NUMBER ONE

STOP SENDING OUR SRILANKAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS TO MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES TO WORK AS DOMESTIC AIDS, GIVE THEM JOB OPPORTUNITIES IN SRILANKA OR OTHER WELL DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.

OMG Sunday, 08 December 2013 07:31 AM

INSTEAD OF SHOUTING AT OTHERS YOU SHOULD START A BUSINESS AND GIVE THEM JOBS.
AND BY THE WAY WISHING YOU GOOD LUCK WITH THE NUMEROUS TAXES, COMMISSIONS AND BRIBES, HIGHEST NUMBER OF HOLIDAYS IN THE WORLD, LABOR UNIONS WITH RAZOR SHARP TEETH, INTERFERENCE OF POLITICIANS AND UNDERWORLD, HIGHEST COST OF ELECTRICITY & FUEL IN THE WORLD AND SUDDEN CHANGES IN LAWS THAT WIPES OUT BUSINESSES OVER NIGHT.

Rasa Sunday, 08 December 2013 12:27 PM

Rri Lankan women of all ages, young girls to old women, are working in homes as cooks, servants and such low grade jobs in these homes, with hardly any gurantee of their security, just to earn some money for their food and living and go through a lot of hardships. It is good to know that steps are taken to regularize the situation in hiring of these poor people for jobs overseas.
It is strange that the qualified Sri Lankans emmigrate while these low grade, go and earn money for the country and for their living. Hope things will change soon.

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Safety alert for Lankan domestic workers

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