 COLOMBO - Sri Lanka on Monday sought help in evacuating thousands of workers trapped in Lebanon, amid claims by some housemaids their employers tried to stop them leaving by holding on to passports and wages.Government officials said most of the 80,000 Sri Lankans working in the Middle Eastern country -- mainly as housemaids, truck drivers and child-minders -- had opted to remain behind.
| "That's it! I'm not staying in Lebanon to get blown up! I can go home for that!" |
However, there were also complaints from dozens of workers that their employers were refusing to pay them or return their passports in a bid to prevent them from leaving their jobs. At least 30 complaints were received by a single official at the Foreign Employment Bureau here accusing Lebanese employers of trying forcibly to keep back Sri Lankan maids by holding on to their passports or wages.
“I have spoken to some of the employers directly and told them of the contractual obligations and that they must allow the maids to leave,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
| "But who's going to clean up this mess?!" |
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which on Saturday helped repatriate 270 men and women who had sought shelter in the Sri Lankan embassy in Beirut, said it was preparing to shift another 1,470 Sri Lankans. |