Kudos to migrant workers
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I was planning to write about the need for hotels to channel a small portion of their seasonal profits to those affected by Cyclone Ditwah, when I received a call on Thursday. It was my friend, jolly-mood economist friend, Sammiya (short for Samson), suggesting instead that I discuss the role of migrant workers vis-à-vis the latest natural disaster.But before that I was to suggest that hotels allocate maybe Rs. 100 per guest for relief work and if 300 guests at a New Year’s eve party pay Rs. 25,000 per head, that donation would be Rs. 30,000. If you take all the New Year’s eve parties, that sum can be a sizable amount for disaster relief.
There have been some calls to cancel these events in the light of the tragedy but that is counter-productive since musicians, suppliers and hotel workers also need livelihood support. Instead, a small donation would go a long way for relief work, was what I had planned to suggest.
Well……back to the conversation with Sammiya. “You need to focus on migrant workers as they have helped tremendously during the cyclone crisis,” he said. “I agree. Particularly those who are permanent residents in Europe, Asia and North America, in addition to those in the Middle East have sent money to the government’s relief fund,” I said.
Incidentally, the rebuilding fund has collected more than Rs. 4 billion, much of it from contributions from overseas Sri Lankans. The next step in this exercise is to ensure the funds are used transparently and with accountability.
“This year there has been a surge in migrant remittances, particularly after the cyclone hit Sri Lanka,” Sammiya said. “The figures for December should show a sharp increase,” I said.
Meanwhile, the trio was on the same page, during their conversation under the margosa tree, just as I was picking up a ‘maalu paan’ brought by Aldoris, the choon-paan karaya, and also my second mug of tea this morning. “Mama magey meda peradiga inna yaluwantai nadeiyantai kiwwa, lankawata mudal evanna kiyala sahanadara katauthu walata (I told my friends and relatives in the Middle East to send more money, some of which could be used for relief work),” said Kussi Amma Sera. “Magey eka yaluwek nivaduwata avilla meda peradigin, bankuwata gihin sulu mudal pramanayak sahanadara aramudalata damma (One of my friends who arrived for her holiday from the Middle East went to the bank and transferred a small sum to the relief fund),” noted Serapina.
“Meka loku uthsahayak pitarata inna apey sahodara sahodariyangen aanduwata udaw karanna. Aanduwa mae uthsahayata nisi paridi piliganeemak denna oney. (This is a great effort by our brothers and sisters abroad to help the government. The government should recognise these efforts),” added Mabel Rasthiyadu.
Remittances have been rolling in and are set for a record of more than US$7 billion this year, the highest ever received for a single year in decades of contributions by migrant workers, largely in West Asia. According to Central Bank data, remittances were recorded at $7.2 billion in January-November 2025 against $6 billion in the same 2024 period. For the whole of 2024, $6.6 billion was remitted.
The sector involving migrant workers has been soured by negative developments on the Thailand-Myanmar border, where Chinese companies have been running operations inveigling gullible investors to put money in bogus projects. Dozens of Sri Lankans were ‘forced’ to work in these closely-guarded enclaves in Myanmar on the promise of employment in supposedly, respected workplaces. They were trapped and couldn’t get out until the Sri Lanka mission in Thailand was able to secure freedom for some of them. Dozens more are still trapped in the complexes.
These bogus companies operating in Myanmar and Cambodia have also trapped many nationals from other countries like South Korea, for example. The brazenness of these scam companies to extract millions of dollars from gullible investors has escaped the reach of authorities who are unable to stop these scamsters.
The other issue that migrant workers faced was when many retired Sri Lanka military personnel sought employment in the Russian army to work in support areas, not combat, in the war against Ukraine. Many were forced onto the frontlines and died in battle. Some, not all, of the survivors have returned to Sri Lanka.
However, a positive development concerning migrant workers is renewed efforts to provide voting rights to Sri Lankan migrants whenever an election is being held in Sri Lanka. This would ideally be through the Sri Lankan mission in that country or through a secured online voting facility.
In September 2025, when the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to formulate new laws to allow voting rights for Sri Lankan citizens residing overseas, I was reminded of a similar effort in the late 1990s.
In an April 17, 2016 editorial in the Business Times, it was stated that: “When discussing labour migration or Sri Lanka’s migrant workers (as they are often referred to), one name that springs up, as a dedicated supporter of the rights of these workers, is David Soysa. It was Soysa, a retired labour department officer, in the late 1990s who fashioned a stream of social groups (later transformed to NGOs) fighting for the rights of migrant workers (MWs).
He died a few years ago, unfortunately not able to see his pet project – voting rights for MWs – to fruition. His persistence on this issue with regular letters, requests and appeals to various authorities and the Human Rights Commission (HRC), led to the HRC chaired by Faiz Musthapa endorsing such a recommendation to the government, 15 years ago in October 2001.
“Yes, we have agreed to make a recommendation to the government on the right of migrant workers to vote,” Mr. Musthapa told a Business Times reporter at the time. He had said that the commission would recommend amending the election law and also suggest ways on how migrant workers could vote.
That proposal went into abeyance, and now, fast-forward 24 years later, the current government has resurrected this proposal. Whether it will be actually implemented or put on the back-burner remains to be seen.
Finally, in winding up, the contribution to the Sri Lankan economy by migrant workers is enormous. If there is a wish-list, it is that these contributions come rolling in faster so that Sri Lanka’s schedule of repaying the suspended foreign debt in 2028 won’t be a severe blow on the economy!
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