විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාලය ^Popular

The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), the foremost organisation looking after the welfare aspects of Sri Lanka’s migrant workers and their families was established in 1985 under the Act No. 21 and amended by Act No. 4 of 1994 and Act No.56 of 2009, the primary legislation that deals with foreign employment. From the outset, the SLBFE operated under the supervision of the Ministry of Labour and in the year 2007 it was transferred to the newly created Ministry of Foreign Employment Promotion & Welfare (MFEPW) and was given tasks that include the formulation and implementation of foreign employment policies & promotion programs. Most of the MFEPW programs are administered by the SLBFE. Today, the SLBFE is a public corporation with over 800 employees in nine major departments and is governed by a Board of Directors. The Bureau also has 07 regional centres throughout the country and receives its power, duties and obligations from the Act of Foreign Employment. Its mandate encompasses promotion and protection of migrants by setting standards and approving or rejecting the contracts provided by foreign employers to Sri Lankan migrants, licensing recruiting agents, and operating programs to protect Sri Lankan migrants and their families. The SLBFE’s main means of protecting migrants include; • Maintaining comprehensive databases of migrants, foreign employers, and Sri Lankan recruiters • Developing standard contracts, and operating 29 training centers that provide pre-departure orientation for migrants • Negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with labour receiving countries and registers migrants going abroad • Operating pre-departure training centers that offer 15 (Middle East) and 25-day (non-Middle East) pre-departure training for mostly female domestic workers going abroad for the first time, with family members attending the final day of the training. This training consists of 12 modules for domestic workers going to Middle Eastern countries. This includes Arabic, use of household appliances, traditions and customs of the Gulf States, and counseling on medical issues. Over the past two decades, the SLBFE has given the highest priority to prompting foreign employment. Hence, the SLBFE maintains a database that lists jobs available by country and by local recruiting agent. Labour attaches abroad are SLBFE employees, and the SLBFE covers the cost of operation of labour missions, safe houses etc. Labour attaches arrange necessary legal services for migrant workers at no charge, and arrange for their safe return to Sri Lanka. 234,Denzil Kobbekaduwa Mawatha Koswatta, Battaramulla.