A contributory pension for Sri Lankans employed overseas has been initiated under the National Policy Framework “Vistas of Prosperity and Splendor”, official sources said. .
A committee of experts will be appointed to prepare the Preliminary Bill for the establishment of Contributory Social Security Fund for workers employed overseas.
According to estimates, about 1-1.4 million Sri Lankans are employed in foreign countries and contribute about Rs 7 to 8 billion annually to the economy of the country, a top official of the Foreign Employment Bureau said.
He noted that, when they return to Sri Lanka, old and unable to find work, they do not receive a pension to look after themselves.
“Foreign workers and their dependents will be looked after through this new act,” he added.
The Overseas Workers Welfare Fund scheme covers all registered migrant workers, as well as their families, who receive insurance in case of death (about USD 10,000), disability (total disablement, at about USD 5,000, and partial disablement at about USD 1,000), and for health care, as well as about USD 2,500 for travel expenses.
Repatriation expenses are also covered by the insurance scheme. Registration is mandatory for all workers.
In recent years government measures of sending countries have been put in place to provide and guarantee access to social protection of their citizens while working overseas. This includes the establishment of overseas worker welfare funds.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a migrant welfare fund is a ‘self-sustaining mechanism that enables the governments of countries of origin to provide additional welfare benefits and services to their migrant workers at the countries of destination.
It is to be established, using a fund grown from the initial capital investments of foreign employers, recruitment agencies and/or migrant workers’
(LI)