An incident was reported from Kuwait recently of 21 stranded migrant workers not registered with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE). They had sought assistance from the SLBFE to return to Colombo, but the SLBFE were not able to help them as they were not registered before their departure, Chairman, SLBFE Kingsley Ranawaka told The Island yesterday (15).

Registration with the SLBFE was not only a protective measure, but had also gained more income to the country. While there were around 200 registrations per day, and all of them had to open non resident foreign currency accounts with local banks. The remittances to the country through this had increased by 30 per cent over the previous year, according to the latest statistics of the Central Bank.

The SLBFE would like to stress the fact that Sri Lankans going abroad for employment should register themselves before departure so that the SLBFE could assist them, Ranawaka said.