Sri Lanka to Bring back 30,000 Stranded Workers in ME

Sri Lanka to Bring back 30,000 Stranded Workers in ME

Most of the stranded workers will be returning from Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan Sri Lanka is to bring back some 30, 000 migrant workers stranded in the Middle East and unable to return due to high quarantine fees at home, a foreign employment ministry official said on Friday. The decision comes after recent reports highlighted the plight of Sri Lankan workers who lost their jobs to pandemic shutdowns, and were left unable to go home as they could not afford mandatory isolation on arrival under their country's coronavirus rules. According to Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) “” an agency under the State Ministry of Foreign Employment Promotions, which is preparing the repatriation process “” some of those migrant workers who had returned earlier had to pay $2, 000, most of which went on quarantine accommodation. "We are planning to repatriate 30, 000 stranded Lankan migrant workers from the Middle East under the new scheme, which would waive the hotel charges during their mandatory quarantine period," SLBFE spokesman Ravindra Randeniya told Arab News. He added that the returning migrant workers will no longer be charged for accommodation during their quarantine and the agency is planning to complete the repatriation