8 January 2021 12:00 am Views - 125
By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perea
National Peoples’ Power (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday urged the Government to formulate a special mechanism to arrange for the urgent repatriation at concessionary rates Sri Lankan expatriates currently stranded overseas due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.
He told Parliament that stranded Sri Lankans specially in the Middle-East are undergoing untold hardships due to their inability of meeting the high expenses which are currently required in returning to the country.
“About 65,000 people have registered to return to Sri Lanka. They are stranded without assistance. Their visas have expired and without jobs now. They have no access to medical facilities as their visas have expired,” he said.
Mr.Dissanayake said even though the Government should take steps to bring them down at a concessionary rate, these helpless workers are charged higher rates and added that some businessmen aligned to the government have made it a profitable business.
“These workers are expected to pay around Rs.400,000. for their passage. Due to the current cost of the air tickets being higher than the normal rates.
They have to pay exorbitant rates for hotels to undergo the quarantine process and PCR tests.Since their monthly salary is normally less than Rs.6000. They have to work for at least 10 months to raise money to return to the country,” he said.
He said steps should be taken to allow these returning expatriates to undergo the quarantine process in their homes and conduct PCR tests free of charge.
The MP asked why the Qatar Fund and Insurance of Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB) was not utilised to facilitate bringing down the expatriates.