Colombo: Sri Lanka has launched a
crackdown on bogus job agents amid some reports that many
Lankan professional drivers went to Saudi Arabia for jobs
ended up becoming Shepherds.
"Many Lankans sent for employment as domestic drivers
to Saudi Arabia have ended up as shepherds," the island
Newspaper quoted the south-Central Sabaragamuwa Provincial
Council Opposition leader Ranjan Ramanayake as saying
yesterday.
Ramanayake said they were people in Middle East who
were either chased out without salaries or left their
employers as they were unable to cope with the work load and
inhuman conditions.
To protect such people, the Sri Lankan Ministry of
Labour and Foreign Employment has decided to deal with bogus
job agents.
Such agents who engage in unauthorised recruitment
will be tracked down and prosecuted, an official statement
said.
Laws have been amended to impose heavy penalties and
jail terms on these fraudsters, said a ministry spokesman.
The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLFEB) is
empowered with additional powers to deal with unscrupulous
elements who engage in illegal recruitment for overseas jobs,
it said.
A number of bogus job agents have been tracked down
over the past few weeks and produced before courts, the
statement said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, November 03, 2009, 17:31