COPE exposes alleged human trafficking by Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau

• Senior SLBFE officials issue controversial circulars by passing Act and without Board approval to send domestic workers for overseas jobs on visit visas
• Exposes 6,290 workers were sent abroad via this method, with 1,990 unaccounted for and 742 reported missing
• Committee members allege many women were being “sold” into exploitative conditions due to poor oversight
• Uncovers some approved workers were underage and 1,925 complaints were ignored by SLBFE
• COPE accuses Bureau of serving foreign employment agencies instead of regulating them
• Officials confirm Manusha Nanayakkara was Minister in charge at the time

A shocking revelation by the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) has raised serious concerns about the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLBFE), over its role in potentially enabling modern-day human trafficking by sending workers abroad without legally binding employment contracts.

The Committee further uncovered that senior officials at the Bureau—including the former Chairman, Acting Chairman Saminda Jayasekara and former Deputy General Manager – Employment Approval P.P. Weerasekara (who is the current Acting Additional General Manager – Local Affairs) had issued these controversial circulars without Board approval.

It disclosed that these circulars bypassed the Act to enable the sending of domestic workers — mostly women, overseas under ‘visit visas’ without any formal employment contracts. 

The Committee opined the Bureau’s actions suggest that the State-owned enterprise has facilitated human trafficking as individuals were sent abroad under ‘visit visas’ without legal protections of formal employment 

agreements.

In a startling admission, the Bureau’s former Deputy General Manager – Employment Approval, defended the practice, stating that they only extended the existing circular. “There is no big deal about the visa category. We only care about the job,” he said. 

Weerasekara further revealed that the Bureau also send workers to South Korea under visit visas, asserting that they relied on a 45-day agreement between the respective foreign agency and the employee rather than securing long-term, legally binding employment contracts.

COPE’s findings indicate that the Bureau had sent a total of 6,290 workers abroad through this questionable method. However, only 4,300 of these individuals were registered in the destination countries’ mission 

databases, leaving 1,990 unaccounted for.

Of even greater concern, the committee revealed that 742 individuals have gone missing after being sent abroad. A total of 365 individuals returned within 45 days, raising questions about job security and working conditions. It was revealed that 880 individuals remained abroad beyond the 45-day period, potentially stranded without legal employment protections.

Several Members of Parliament (MPs) present at the COPE alleged that many of the women sent abroad through this process were effectively being “sold” into exploitative conditions due to the lack of proper oversight.

The COPE suggested that rather than fulfilling its regulatory role, the Bureau had allegedly acted in the interests of foreign employment agencies —allowing recruitment companies to operate with minimal oversight instead of holding them accountable to legal standards.

The revelations have sparked outrage, with lawmakers pointing to data submitted by the SLBFE where some of the workers approved and sent by the Bureau were underage.

The committee members also pointed out that a total of 1,925 complaints were received by the Bureau with no action taken by the SLBFE. 

When asked about the Minister in charge at the time, Bureau officials stated that it was Manusha Nanayakkara.