SLBFE to cover quarantine expenses of returning migrant workers

Saturday, 27 March 2021 00:25 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) yesterday said the government has set up a system involving private hotels and resorts to provide free quarantine facilities to Sri Lankan migrant workers returning home from the Middle East and abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The SLBFE will cover all expenses related to quarantine facilities, other medical, food and transport facilities for migrant workers returning home due to the COVID-19 situation, it said in a statement.

These facilities will only be available for migrant workers who have duly registered with the SLBFE prior to departure.

Recently Labour Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva instructed the SLBFE to formulate a system and find suitable private hotels and resorts to provide free quarantine facilities – an essential factor in the expeditious repatriation of migrant workers during this pandemic.

The SLBFE has informed the minister it has selected 10 privately owned tourist hotels and resorts, with the approval of the National COVID-19 Prevention Task Force, to set up such quarantine centres.

These 10 hotels can accommodate 571 people at a time.

Hotel fees, food and all other facilities will be provided by the SLBFE. The SLBFE expects to spend Rs. 4,500 rupees per day to keep one person in such a quarantine centre, while it is estimated Rs. 8 million rupees a week will be needed to provide these facilities for a full group. A returning worker will be kept in a centre for one week.