Financial Times

IOf our mothers and sisters working abroad
By Random Access Memory (RAM)
When most of us see our breakfast, lunch or dinner set on our table or the plate each day, there is an aspect in there, which often goes unnoticed -- the substantial contribution made by those we call, 'housemaids' to bring some of these items on that table or plate. Toiling in far away lands, away from their families, leaving their children in the care of others, they chase dreams of a pot of gold for themselves. In the process, these courageous mothers and sisters of our nation, unnoticed by most of us, also substantially contribute to keep Sri Lanka and us Sri Lankans ticking in business.

The earnings they make each year contribute 7.5 per cent of net foreign exchange earnings and support a substantial portion of the current account operations of the country. Of the over 1.5 million Sri Lankan migrant workers, 'housemaids' consist 80 per cent. Over five hundred of our mothers and sisters take on air travel daily to seek employment abroad, mostly in the Gulf and Middle East countries, Singapore, Cyprus and Malaysia.

While we read in the media and hear of horror stories of some of them returning in coffins or with their honour tarnished, there is also some other lesser-known and stealthy evil that befall them. Uppermost is the plight of their children and families. Husbands who spend the hard earned funds on wasteful pursuits such as excessive consumption of alcohol, betting on horses that run the circuits elsewhere in the world, children, who are deprived of the love and care of a mother and grow up to be misfits in society, sexual and other forms of exploitation, contacting HIV/AIDS, physical and mental harassment are among the many travails they face.

Most unscrupulous foreign employment agencies exploit them even before they leave the shores of Sri Lanka with hefty and undue charges. These consist of payments for air tickets which, most of the time is already provided for by the employers abroad, visa fees, handling charges, various other levies and exorbitant mark ups. Land is mortgaged and loan sharks are sought to raise the funds needed for the job initiation process.

It must be said that all do not fall in to the bad and ugly side of things. The more fortunate among our mothers and sisters who find jobs through good, honest and responsible agencies and employers realise the dreams they chase in making money to build a new life for themselves and their families. Even within some of these material successes, there are the negatives of a high social cost in broken homes and delinquent children.

In seeking answers, we perhaps need to begin from our own plate of food on the table and ask ourselves the question, 'Do we pay enough attention to those who make a contribution to bring us this food we have before us?' Most of the time, we limit ourselves to thinking about the 'housemaids' as passing thoughts and consider the phenomenon as a necessary evil. In our minds at the least, it ensures that a part of our population seeking work is kept productively engaged even for some time. Then there is also the satisfaction, that the 'housemaids' get exposed to conditions and standards of living in some countries in the 'richer' world in turn contributing to an 'educational' process, through that exposure.

The negative social impacts of these mostly untrained mothers and sisters of our nation, who are sent out as virtual slaves, rarely touch our conscience for we are too busy ourselves, to worry about other's woes. For the policy makers there are the issues of poverty, graduate unemployment, potential youth unrest, rising cost of living, the drought etc that they must worry about and upsetting an already lucrative source of income may not be a desirable option.

It is true that there is a state Bureau of Foreign Employment. It is true that there are programmes of training for the 'housemaids' or 'foreign domestic workers' being conducted, however inadequate they are. It is true that there is research undertaken by social scientists to analyse the impact of the phenomenon. It is true that statistics are prepared and mention is made from time to time of the largest single source of foreign exchange earnings for Sri Lanka.

It is also true that there are vibes created from time to time to focus on the plight of these workers. What perhaps may be more effective will be to seriously consider a change in the nomenclature of call as an initial step and begin a serious campaign to adequately equip our mothers and sisters who work abroad to be able to earn a dignified living within our own country. It will take much time and effort, but may be a worthwhile directional shift to create a better Sri Lanka for the future.

Back to Business