(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –The Sri Lankan government will not allow human trafficking and will take every possible measure against the illegal practice, the Deputy Minister of Telecommunication, Digital Infrastructure and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara said.
The Deputy Minister joining a walk against human trafficking on Monday (30) said that according to recent U.S. State Department report, Sri Lanka has become better although the country in the past was on the top among the countries where human trafficking was on the rise.
Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment, Migrant Trainees and International Labor Organization (ILO) supported by the U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka marched in Colombo today, to raise awareness in human trafficking to mark the World Day Against Trafficking Persons.
The Minister said the walk organized by the today Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment with the ILO and the U.S. Embassy is to raise awareness in human trafficking as well as to demonstrate to the world the role of Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment against this crime.
“Also, we are walking to pledge to the public that the entire staff of the Bureau of Foreign Employment and the Minister Harin Fernando will take all possible measures against the human trafficking,” Deputy Minister Nanayakkara said.
He said as a country we should be proud of Sri Lanka’s improvement in its position against human trafficking in a short time and the commitment to take all possible measures against the trade.
“We will take action against the various individuals, who promise the Sri Lankan workers foreign employment and send them to foreign countries outside the stipulated procedure,” the Minister said.
“Those who leave the country illegally for foreign employment will face the problems of sexual abuse and unpaid wages in those countries. They will not face these problems if they registered through the Bureau before leaving,” he added.
Speaking on the occasion, the Director of the International Labor Organization’s Sri Lanka and Maldives Offices, Ms. Zimrin Singh, said the issue of illegal human trafficking is a problem that affects the entire world.
“Seventy percent of those subjected to human trafficking are women and 25 percent are under 18 years of age,” Ms. Singh said.
The ILO director advised that information of any illegal human smuggling activities should be reported and noted that the Foreign Employment Bureau has implemented a program to report such activities.
