Young Sri Lankans will now be able to work abroad from the age of 21, which is between two and four years younger than before. The government has announced that it is lowering this minimum age, while Sri Lanka is going through the worst economic crisis in its history, and the country, in default of payment, has an essential need for foreign currency. Some condemn this decision, which can expose young women to abuse.
With our correspondent in the region, Sebastien Farcis
” Employment opportunities abroad must be increased. This is how the government justified this decision to lower the minimum age of expatriation for young Sri Lankans, most of whom go to the Middle East.
This limit was introduced in 2013, following the beheading, in Saudi Arabia, of a 17-year-old Sri Lankan nanny, accused of negligence. The minimum age used to be 23 and even 25 for Saudi Arabia, it is now down to 21.
A regressive decision, judge Mareena Thaha Rehai, coordinator of the association for Muslim women Almuslimaath:
At 21, they don’t have the maturity to make decisions, and they’re going to get mugged or get pregnant. People in the Middle East are not saints and embassies cannot protect them. They will also stop their education to leave, while women are more educated than men in Sri Lanka. The government wants to send everyone abroad. That way no one will protest against them.
Workers’ remittances represent an important source of foreign exchange for Sri Lanka, especially in these times of crisis. But they have fallen sharply for two years because of the pandemic.
►Read also: The dubious maneuvers of certain elites at the heart of the Sri Lankan crisis