Worker remittances endangered by war in the Middle East

• Approximately one million Sri Lankans are currently employed in the Middle East, with around 300,000 departing for the region annually

Sri Lanka’s total gross external debt was 56.6 billion USD in September 2024. Deputy Minister of Economic Development Anil Jayantha, quoted in ‘Economynext’, revealed our debt service in 2025 is estimated at 2,454 million dollars, made up of 1,369 million dollars in capital repayments and 1,085 million dollars in interest.  In reality, we are still in debt and have a huge sum of dollar payments yet to be made to our creditors. Over the past two years, the central bank has settled its borrowings from Bangladesh and some of the loans from the Reserve Bank of India and the IMF.   Much has been said of the need to expand our sources of earning foreign exchange so necessary to repaying our debts. Yet, Central Bank records show our main source of foreign income, so necessary to get out of our state of indebtedness remains Workers’ remittances. Remittances have been a key pillar of our country’s foreign currency earnings and have provided a substantial cushion against the widening trade deficit thereby enhancing the external sector resilience of the country. Worker remittances have hovered around 80 per cent of the annual trade deficit, over the past two decades  

Approximately one million Sri Lankans are currently employed in the Middle East, with around 300,000 departing for the region annually. Even today the Middle East remains the most popular destination among Sri Lankan people for jobs.

The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) data indicates over 80% of the 1.7 million SLBFE-registered migrant workers find employment in these nations. Key destinations include Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, and Jordan.

Of them, 71,210 have left for Kuwait, 48,083 for the United Arab Emirates, 45,008 for Saudi Arabia, and 43,104 for Qatar, according to the SLBFE. 

In 2022, migrant workers brought in USD 3,789.4 million in remittances, with the highest amounts received from Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. In the same year, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka reported that workers’ remittances increased to USD 475.6 million in December 2022, the highest monthly remittances during the year. 

Sri Lanka’s foreign worker’s remittances in 2024 reached $6.5 billion, and most of them are employed in the Middle East. It is, therefore, imperative Lanka take steps to protect this major source of its foreign exchange, which, as mentioned earlier, earned our country over US $6.5 billion in 2024. 

Today, a tragic and ferocious war is taking place in the Middle East where the state of Israel is attacking the state of Palestine, which they (Israel) are unlawfully occupying.

Since October 2023 when Israel commenced its attacks, they (Israel) have killed54,470 Palestinians. According to ‘Al Jazeera’, Israel kills a child in Gaza every 45 minutes. That is an average of 30 children killed every day over the past 535 days.

UNICEF on November 8 charged Israel with attacking 64 schools, almost two schools every day -all of which harboured Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip.

All Middle East countries have called on Israel to stop its genocidal attacks in Palestine and we need to back their call.

There is every danger the war could spill over into other countries in the Middle East endangering stability in the region, the lives of our expatriate workers and their ability to continue working in the region. This danger has increased with Israel expanding its attacks into Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. 

If the conflict expandsit could well endanger this vital source of income to our country. Therefore, our government must play an active role in helping bring the conflict to an end.

On December 12, 2024, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) called for an immediate end to Israel’s attacks in Palestine. But Israel continues ignoring this call. 

Today, it is essential, even for selfish reasons, to bring the genocidal war to an end. In 1971, despite the UK threatening to boycott Ceylon tea, then Prime Minister, Sirimavo Bandaranaike closed down the Israeli embassy in Colombo for ignoring UNGA resolutions.

Our government, which, prior to coming to power, organised national and international protests against Israel’s genocidal war, needs to now walk the talk. It needs to announce practical measures like boycotting Israeli goods and services to emphasise its opposition to the ongoing genocide against Palestine.