Nearly 110,000 Sri Lankans migrated for foreign employment as at the end of this year, said Additional General Manager (International Affairs) of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) Mangala Randeniya.

He was speaking at a two-day programme held on December 16 and 17 at the JAIC Hilton organized by the Voice of Migrants, a coalition of 23 national and grassroots civil society organizations, trade unions, lawyers and international NGOs working on matters of labour migration.

Randeniya said a total of 109,075 Sri Lankans left the country for foreign employment this year.

Even amidst the global pandemic, over 53,000 Sri Lankans had left for foreign employment last year, he said.

Speaking on facilities to be provided to the migrant workers, Randeniya said the SLBFE is currently planning to update its database and website to provide a more effective service to the users and facilitate the workers who expect to leave for employment abroad. A three-year plan is being drafted for this purpose, he said. Randeniya said the best foreign job market for Sri Lankan youth is Japan. Applicants with Japanese language proficiency and the required skills have the opportunity obtain a job at zero cost in Japan, he said.

Japan will open nearly 300,000 job opportunities to the world in 2022, he said. During the event, banners were displayed by the participants in memory of late Priyantha Kumara, who was brutally assassinated in Pakistan recently and all other migrant workers who have been killed in the line of work.