Immigration officers threaten trade union action

By Charumini de Silva

The Sri Lanka Immigration and Emigration Officers’ Association (SLIEOA) yesterday warned that it would take stern union action if the Government fails, by 30 December, to find solutions to make the immigration service more effective and resolve issues that have been neglected by the authorities.

The three demands of the association are to establish and make effective the service minute of the Sri Lanka Immigration and Emigration Service, attach immigration officers to foreign missions and re-establish the Departmental Prosecution Unit.

“We as responsible public servants have taken all possible measures and done our level best to get these issues resolved internally and at the departmental level without causing any inconvenience to the general public. However, the continuous negligence of authorities of these matters has forced us to believe in union action,” SLIEOA President Aruna Kanugala told journalists in Colombo yesterday.

Having failed to find resolutions silently through discussions to improve the immigration services for over 20 years, he said that they finally brought it to the attention of President Maithripala Sirisena. 

“In May this year, with Internal Affairs Minister S.B. Navinna, we met the President. After a few discussions with the President he understood the plight of the officers and accepted their demands. He then directed the relevant ministers, commissions and authorities to take immediate measures to solve our problems. But since then nothing has progressed. We are highly disappointed,” he added.

At a meeting held on 16 December, the Minister and officials had promised to find a solution to their demands and requested the SLIEOA for two weeks. However, Kanugala said they were not convinced as these kinds of promises had been made for many years without yielding any tangible results. 

He stressed that although ministerial level discussions led up to the drafting point, institutions, including the Public Service Commission and National Salary and Cadre Commission, had been unproductive in providing support to arrive at a solution.

He said immigration officers, who were engaged in a premier State defence service, are performing a vital job in formalising and managing departures and arrivals, while directly contributing billions to net foreign income annually. 

“Unlike other Government services, immigration officers are not entitled to leave during public holidays and have restless working sessions of 16- or 24-hour shifts at airports and harbours without being paid any overtime payment or other additional payments,” he pointed out.

It was noted that the majority of the officers who join the department have no career promotions until their retirement, yet each Government is recruiting more officers without providing solutions to their grievances.  

According to him, out of the 394 total positions in the departments there are only 10 vacancies that could provide promotions, while two of the positions have not been filled since 2009.