Post COVID-19 recovery plan
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It was a long wait – for days, mind you. Then on Wednesday I heard it – the distinctive and shrill cry of the koha or Asian koel heralding the Sinhala and Hindu New Year. This year, however, it’s different as most people working in Colombo are unable to travel to their villages due to the curfew.For the second time in a year (after the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks), the country is in a crisis – this time joined by the world. The call of the koha is perhaps happier than before because the air is clean, there is little pollution and the birds are free to roam. Avurudu, meanwhile, will be celebrated for all purposes, indoors just like for the trio who had gathered outside our gate on Thursday morning. Their discussion was however not on the customs and celebrations of Avurudu.
“Meda peradiga weda karana ape sahodara sahodariyan kohomada danne ne (I wonder how our brothers and sisters working in the Middle East are),” said Kussi Amma Sera.
“Mage game ekkenekta videsa rakiyavak labuna, eth ithin yanna ba ne, kochchara mudal avashya wunata (A person in my village has got a job abroad but is unable to travel, even though she needs the money desperately),” noted Serapina.
“Mage mithurekuta apahu lankawata ennata ona wunath enna ba (One of my friends wants to return but cannot as there are no flights),” added Mabel Rasthiyadu.
While the government has been focusing on major foreign exchange earners – the apparel industry and tourism – not much attention has been given to migrant workers whose remittances contribute the largest, single source of foreign exchange to the country.
Foreign employment agencies complain that this industry gets virtually no support from the government. For example, while various schemes over the past few years and currently underway amidst the COVID-19 crisis provide support for apparel, tourism and other export sectors, the foreign labour industry is sidelined.
Due to the closure of the Colombo airport and also airports in West Asia, the country may have lost about 25,000 to 35,000 jobs – which is the average number of those going abroad on employment per month. Industry sources say that with 1.7 million Sri Lankan workers abroad, the industry supports at least 5 million people. The sector also provides benefits to a substantial segment of businesses like medical centres, transportation, immigration office, photo shops, hotels, travel agents, duty free shops, cargo services and courier companies etc.
“We need some support,” urged a spokesperson for the Association of Licensed Foreign Employment Agencies of Sri Lanka last week. Many questions arise about the future of Sri Lankans working in West Asia like the sustainability of their jobs, workplace environments vis-à-vis COVID-19.
There were other issues. Three international NGOs working on migrant labour issues in a statement last week said that as governments scramble to find adequate responses to address the pandemic, many migrant workers are the first to be left behind.
“We have seen multiple examples where migrants are required to pay for testing and treatment. Undocumented migrant workers are denied healthcare and are rounded up for detention and deportation. In a pandemic, denying a community access to healthcare threatens the health security of all. Some countries have deported migrant workers out of fear that they might spread COVID-19. A number of governments have targeted migrants as scapegoats; blaming them for spreading the disease,” they said in a statement.
“Many migrants are currently stranded in transit or in countries of destination as governments impose travel bans and close their borders, while many others are stranded in countries of origin, awaiting deployment, not knowing if they still have the jobs to which they were to be deployed. Some are seeing their recruitment costs mount as they wait,” the statement by the Migrant Forum in Asia, the Cross Regional Centre for Refugees and Migrants and the Solidarity Centre said.
It is incumbent on the government to explain how Sri Lankan migrant workers are being protected abroad and provided support through the embassies. Also whether they would get livelihood support if they are forced to return, after losing their jobs.
As the trio continued their conversation on the crisis faced by many of their friends who are in West Asia, the phone rang.
It was Kalabala Silva, the often agitated academic, on the line. “Hello … hello Kalabala, how are you doing,” I said.
“Fine but this crisis is killing us,” Kalabala said, adding that he wanted to discuss an important matter. “What is it,” I asked.
“Well….…while the government has set up various committees and task forces for various aspects of the emergency like for example the provision of essential goods to the community, I think the government is missing one serious requirement,” he said. “What is it,” I asked again.
“It is imperative that the government sets up quickly – and this time with private sector input and contribution of economists – an apolitical committee to draft a Marshall-like plan to resuscitate the economy which would take anything between 12 to 18 months,” he said. (The Marshall Plan was a US programme enacted in 1948 providing aid to Western Europe following the ravages of World War II).
“That’s a great idea and needs to be considered seriously,” I replied, commending Kalabala for the thought. Adding my two cents’ worth of ideas, I said: “My thoughts on the economic recovery, once the crisis is over, are that two scenarios could emerge: On one hand, the pent up demand for goods and services will be phenomenal from Sri Lankans, while on the other hand, people will struggle for a few months to pay for goods and services amidst job losses and pay-cuts.”
We discussed many other issues connected to the COVID-19 crisis but kept coming back to the need for a committee to chart an economic and business recovery plan which will be apolitical. Committee members need to be chosen on their expertise and skills, not according to political affiliation, it was noted.
As we ended our conversation, the trio of Kussi Amma and Co., had also ended theirs’ and while the others went back to their homes down the lane, Kussi Amma Sera brought my second cup of tea into the room.
Relaxed and in deep thought, I sipped some tea, reflecting on the need of the hour for the government to come up with a recovery plan that would address all segments of the working population, their job security and in particular the needs of the migrant worker industry.