Age limit to be increased

25 January 2011 06:20 pm

The government today decided to increase the age limit of females seeking foreign employment to 21 from 18, sources said.

The Cabinet gave its approval to a memorandum submitted by Foreign Employment Minister Dilan Perera. The Cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne in the absence of President Mahinda Rajapaksa who is currently abroad.

Foreign employment is one of the major foreign exchange earners of the country. Currently, there are over one million Sri Lankan expatriate workers, and a bulk of them works in the Middle East countries as housemaids.  By 2009, they constituted 24 percent of the country’s entire labour force. It is a billion dollar industry for Sri Lanka according to latest statistics. (Kelum Bandara)