France has allegedly offered to enhance job opportunities for Sri Lankan professionals and skilled workers and for students in the IT and natural sciences fields. This matter was taken up during a meeting held in Paris between Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama and French Minister for Immigration, Integration and National Identity, Brice Hortefeux, on 4 September. Both governments are expected to sign the necessary protocol for this labor arrangement.
The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment and the Sri Lanka Social Security Board launched a new pension scheme for its two million migrant workers across the world, on 3 September. The introduction of the scheme follows an agreement between the two government agencies. Under the scheme, migrant workers who paid regular contributions would be entitled to a monthly pension upon reaching the age of 60 until his/her death. If the worker dies before reaching the age of 80, the spouse or dependents of the contributor would benefit from the scheme.
Officials have expressed concern over the rising number of irregular migrants in Sri Lanka who use the visa-on-arrival facility to enter the country and subsequently find employment or engage in illegal activities. The Immigration and Emigration Department arrested eight such migrants, all of South Asian origin, on 6 September. Those arrested allegedly held only tourist visas but were found working as laborers in paddy fields in Tissamaharama and Hambatota. A similar arrest involving several South Asians was also made in the Eastern Province two months earlier.
A navy patrol apprehended 10 Indian fishermen aboard two boats who were found fishing illegally in Sri Lankan territorial waters in the seas off North of Mannar on 11 September. The fishermen were turned over to the Mannar police.
Displaced families resettled
Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake informed parliament on 4 September that some 30,000 families displaced in Vakarai, Kadiraveli, Verugal and Eechalampaththu in the Eastern Province had been resettled. They were successfully resettled after government forces recaptured these areas from the hands of LTTE rebels.
Sources: Mohammed Rasooldeen, "Sri Lanka announces pension scheme for overseas workers, " Arab News, 2 September 2007; Arvind Nair, "New pension scheme for Lanka expats," Gulf Times, 4 September 2007; Uditha Kumarasinghe, Rajmi Manatunga and Irangika Range, "Over 30,000 displaced Eastern families resettled," Daily News, 5 September 2007; Chamikara Weerasinghe, "Pension scheme for migrant workers launched," Daily News, 5 September 2007; "Job opportunities for Lankan skilled workers in France," Daily News, 7 September 2007; Rasika Somarathna, "Rise in illegal migrants," Daily News, 10 September 2007; "Sri Lankan cracks down on illegal Indian workers," Dawn, 10 September 2007; Rafik Jalaldeen, "Navy nets in 10 Indian fishermen," Daily News, 13 September 2007