News
Labour Minister explains difficulties in bringing back Lankan migrant workers
By Saman Indrajith
The government could not dispatch 10 or more aircraft and bring home Lankan migrant workers stranded overseas though it was desirous of doing so because it had to follow international procedures, Labour Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva told Parliament yesterday.
The Minister said that flights and their crew members were required to abide by various laws, regulations and quarantine processes each airport had put in place in view of the prevailing pandemic.
“You just cannot send the required number of planes and bring them home as you wish. There are different regulations as per the different airspaces of different countries. We cannot violate those rules. In addition, there are issues pertaining to the cost of tickets and finding space for quarantine too should be taken into consideration though they are not big issues. The Lankan migrant workers would be brought home gradually as decided by the National Operations Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOPCO).”
Answering a question raised by Badulla District SJB MP Chaminda Wijesiri, the Minister said that the decisions pertaining to bringing back migrant workers home were taken by the NOPCO.
Minister De Silva said that as at Nov 13, there had been 816,433 Lankan migrant workers, and they were provided with dry rations, face masks and sanitisers and temporary shelter with the help of Lankan Embassies and High Commissions.
Minister De Silva said that 102 Lankan migrant workers had sought the assistance of the Foreign Employment Bureau (FEB) to obtain tickets and medical assistance because of COVID-19 infections and the Insurance Corporation had so far approved 49 cheques amounting to Rs 2,388,228 for them.
The Minister said that if a Lankan worker registered at the FEB died of COVID-19, the bureau would intervene to get compensation to the family members of the victim migrant worker. So far, 68 such registered Lankan workers had died abroad due to COVID-19 and they had been cremated in the countries where they died. In addition, six Sri Lankan migrant workers whose registration with FEB had expired had died abroad due to the pandemic and their dependents had applied for compensation. Family members of one of those six had been paid Rs 300,000 by the Employees Provident Fund.
The Labour Minister said that as at 13 Nov. 13,181 Lankan migrant workers had returned home because of the pandemic and the FEB had computerised the records of 6,667 of them so far. Out of them 2,163 were planning to return to their work places while 1,617 intended to work in Sri Lanka; 654 would opt for self-employment, 64 had decided to undergo further training and 2,159 had decided to do various other things.
News
Cabinet nod to increase the number of new automated passenger clearance gates at the Bandaranayake International Airport to 12
Approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting held on 19.05.2025 to purchase four (04) automated passenger clearance gates for Bandaranayake International Airport.
In addition, it is expected to extend the automated passenger clearance gates facility so far given only to the Sri Lankans
parallel to the e – passport issuance system to be introduced in the year 2027 also to the foreigners who travel to and from this country.
Furthermore, considering also the number of air passengers rapidly increasing with the fast – forwarding business and tourism field, the appropriateness to increase the total automated passenger clearance gates up to twelve (12) in number has been recognized.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers, approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs to initiate the procurement and installation of 12
automated passenger clearance gates altogether with the already approved four (04) and another eight (08) automated passenger clearance gates adhering to the formal procurement procedure
Based on the observations submitted by the Task Force on Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing for Terrorism, approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted at their meeting held on 18.12.2024 to amend the Trust Ordinance No. 9 of 1917 including amendments proposed by the Financial
Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
Accordingly, clearance of the Attorney General has been granted for the Trust (Amendment) Draft Bill formulated by the Legal Draftsman.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Justice and National Integration
to publish the said draft bill in the government gazette notification and thereby, submit the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.
Action was taken to provide a fuel relief for the fuel consumers during the months of April, May and June of 2026 to redress by minimizing the impact caused to the day today life of the citizens of this country as well as the entire economy due to the price hike of petroleum fuel in the global market resulting from the war situation in the Middle East.
Government mediation is essential for minimizing the impact on the day to today life of citizens in this country due to that war situation not being ended further. Therefore, it has been planned to redress on the sale price for Auto Diesel and Industrial Diesel for a period of 03 months by the Government to provide relief to the public as well as to maintain the prices at a bearable level to the consumers without escalating the fuel prices in this country compared to the escalation of fuel prices
in the international market.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the resolution furnished by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to
allocate provisions subject to the monthly limitations respectively as rupees 15 billion for the month of October, rupees 13.5 billion for the month of November and rupees 12.15 billion for the month of December to provide the said relief
Cabinet nod to increase the number of new automated passenger clearance gates at the Bandaranayake International Airport to 12
Draft Bill for amending the Trust Ordinance
Implementing further relief programme to Public sffected by the Middle East conflict situation
Establishment of a Spectrum Management and Monitoring System and a Quality of Service and Quality of Experience System for the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka
Appointment of a Committee for the Restitution of Sri Lankan Cultural Heritage Held Abroad
Ten-Year National Action Plan on the Social Protection Sector (2026–2035)
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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