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OOSLA Director General V. Krishnamoorthy
By Shanika Sriyananda
The newly formed Office for Overseas Sri Lankans’ Affairs (OOSLA) is calling on Sri Lankans living overseas to get connected with the Government to support the country’s social and economic development process at this crucial juncture of the economic crisis.
The OOSLA, established at the Presidential Secretariat, has commenced mapping out to reach overseas Sri Lankans through the country’s missions abroad, and get their support to set up a database.
“We intend to reach out to Sri Lankans living overseas to mobilise them for cooperation and assistance to Sri Lanka and strengthen their ties with their motherland,” OOSLA Director General V. Krishnamoorthy said.
Explaining the novel initiatives taken by OOSLA to tap the support of Sri Lankan academics and professionals living overseas, he said there was an overwhelming response to President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s invitation to overseas Sri Lankans to support the Government’s development initiatives.
Former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and also former High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to Kenya and Bangladesh, Krishnamoorthy said OOSLA was in touch with all Sri Lankan missions and Sri Lankan societies abroad encouraging them to engage in dialogues with overseas Sri Lankans in order to get their fullest support in investment projects in the country.
“Sri Lanka is your country and you are our assets. You can play an important role in the country’s development initiatives to make Sri Lanka a prosperous nation by 2048 if you get together with us. We need your support at this crucial juncture,” he said in an interview with the Daily FT. The following are excerpts:
Q: How do you define the Sri Lankan diaspora?
We do not call our people living abroad as diaspora but as ‘Overseas Sri Lankans’ (OSLs). Three broad categories of individuals have been identified as OSLs - Non-Resident Sri Lankans (Sri Lankan citizens residing overseas), Sri Lankan citizen by birth who have subsequently obtained citizenship of another country and persons of Sri Lankan origin (descendants of Sri Lankan citizens).
Similar platforms have been successfully established by other Asian countries with large diaspora communities, such as the Philippines (Commission on Filipinos Overseas) India (Overseas Indian Affairs division of the External Affairs Ministry), Nepal (Overseas Nepalese Association), and Vietnam (State Commission for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs).
Q: Do you have a database on the diaspora population as different agencies provide different numbers?
We do not have a comprehensive database on Sri Lankans living abroad at present but based on available statistics two to three million Sri Lankans are living abroad. Of that 1.6 million are migrant workers. This number is available as they are registered at the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment and the Labour Ministry.
Most of them are in America (Canada, USA), Asia (West Asia, India), the Pacific (Australia and New Zealand), Europe (UK, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland) while some others are well established in various lesser-known destinations.
As regards others, who had gone abroad immediately after Sri Lanka gained independence, or during the insurgency, after the 1983 riots and also during the conflict, we still do not have exact statistics. They had left the country due to various reasons, like education, employment, security, etc. Some Sri Lankans had migrated overseas during the conflict for security reasons. Migration is part of civilization and people go to other countries when they find better prospects in those countries.
Q: A significant number of Sri Lankans, including students, are going abroad now. Does this 2-3 million number include them as well?
Yes, according to available data many young Sri Lankans tend to leave on student visas with the long term intention of settling down in their new host countries. At present we do not have authentic data on the student population living overseas although estimated figures from various desk reports indicate that 2.5 to 3 million Sri Lankans are living outside the country. Therefore, OOSLA will conduct ‘Diaspora Mapping’ through our missions abroad, Sri Lankan organisations and international organisations that deal with migration, to get correct statistics of Lankans living abroad.
Q: What is the main objective of establishing the Office for Overseas Sri Lankans’ Affairs (OOSLA)?
Our main objective is to serve as an interface for mutually beneficial engagements between Sri Lanka and OSLs who wish to enhance their connection with their country of origin, in multiple ways. We also intend to reach out to OSLs to strengthen their ties with the motherland, to provide policy assistance to the Government in the formulation of measures concerning OSLs and also to mobilise them for cooperation and assistance to the motherland.
In this regard, with the support and active participation of relevant Ministries and agencies, we will develop and implement programs and activities to cater to the interests of OSLs as well as enhance their connectivity to the motherland through engagements in social, economic and cultural spheres and people to people ties. For example, OOSLA works closely with the Bureaus of investment promotion, tourism promotion, Foreign Employment and several other technical, educational networks and institutions such as National Science Foundation, social activities and humanitarian work connecting the Home Affairs Ministry and its network of Divisional Secretariats. The end goal is to harness better understanding, dialogue, and perception change among our communities abroad and locally, to further social cohesion and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.
Q: One of the priorities of President Wickremesinghe in rebuilding the country is to get the support of the Sri Lankan diaspora. How does OOSLA contribute towards this priority?
When President Wikcremesinghe took over the Government, he spelt out a number of policy announcements during the interim Budget 2022. One such priority was to establish OOSLA. It also mentioned bringing a law and setting up a fund. OOSLA is the central point set up at the Presidential Secretariat that coordinates with overseas Sri Lankans, 23 stakeholders and 62 missions abroad.
He wants to restore the economy and turn Sri Lanka into a prosperous country by 2048. This is a shared responsibility and we have to think new to find ways and means to restore the economy. President Wickremesinghe thinks of our people living abroad as assets, as they have knowledge, influence and are doing excellently in their country of living.
We believe that Sri Lanka stands to benefit from the social and professional diversity of these overseas Sri Lankans by tapping their expertise, influence in their countries of residence, resources for the economic and social development of Sri Lanka and also to supplement domestic reconciliation efforts.
Overseas Sri Lankans have an affinity to their motherland. Most of them are products of the free education system and they want to give back their share for the country’s development. But, there was no system or space in the Government policy or a development plan for their contribution until OOSLA was formed. Now, their knowledge, experience and contribution could be channeled through this platform to achieve the targets set for 2048.
Q: What is the response for this call from the Sri Lankan diaspora so far?
We have started to tap the potential of overseas Sri Lankans since January, 2023. We have developed an action plan and commenced our dialogue with individuals through our contacts and missions. When we meet them via our web meetings and other communication channels, an overwhelming support is evident and they welcome this move.
They can approach us through this platform. We are also in the process of creating awareness among our 23 national stakeholders who are catering services for the overseas Sri Lankans.
Q: How do you expect to convince the Sri Lankan diaspora to invest in Sri Lanka, now facing a financial crisis?
We are building a network of global OSLs and prominent Sri Lankans who can act as catalysts for Sri Lanka’s progress, utilising their expertise and leveraging their influence for the country’s development. At present several agencies among the 23 local stakeholders, are working on it. OOSLA is coordinating with them and facilitating them to implement the projects. For example, two Sri Lankans from the Netherlands are interested in investing in a hotel in Kandy. Through OOSLA’s intervention they were able to get most of the clearance for the project. We are still working to clear some issues to facilitate them to implement the project.
To convince and attract overseas Sri Lankans interested in investing in the country, we need to have ready-made projects to offer them opportunities. It would facilitate us to convince them to invest in projects according to the country’s needs. Therefore, OOSLA plans to have a dialogue with the respective stakeholders to prepare such a blueprint for investment projects.
We are also engaged in dialogues with the second generation of the overseas Sri Lankans to get their contribution in knowledge-based and leadership projects. A Sri Lankan living in Estonia, specialising in cyber-security, got connected with the Youth Corps in Sri Lanka to train 62 instructors on cyber security. There are 700 students and these 62 instructors will train the other students.
We are also talking to our universities to get their requirements to get the support of our professionals and academics living abroad. A Sri Lankan attached to Harvard University is in touch with the Vavuniya University to establish a Faculty in Aquaculture. He wants to get dual citizenship to promote this project and OOSLA is helping him.
Q: Will OOSLA be able to clear bureaucratic bottlenecks for Sri Lankan diaspora investors to get services under-one roof to expedite the investment process?
Building confidence among OSLs to incentivise them to contribute to the economic and social development of Sri Lanka such as through inward investment, remittance from migrant workers, tourism promotion is also one of the priorities.
If any good investor comes forward we coordinate with all stakeholders to facilitate him. We bring all parties to one platform and discuss possible avenues for the investor to get the project off the ground and expedite the process by addressing the gaps for a smooth process. Now investors do not have to waste their time at the relevant agencies but they can get the services within a short period of time as we are facilitating them. If there are bureaucratic hurdles we will address them through policy interventions or by coordinating with the respective stakeholders. However, our long term plan is to create a one-stop shop for the investors to get all these services accomplished under one roof.
Q: When talking about diaspora, people still have speculations with regard to the pro-LTTE Tamil diaspora. How does OOSLA coordinate with the Tamil diaspora to clear this misconception?
There are pluses and minuses with regard to any diaspora in the world. Given our history of the conflict, people may have suspicion of each other. However, after 2009, all those misconceptions are erased in the minds of the majority of the people. The Tamil diaspora is especially willing to come forward to support. Initially, we coordinated with the moderate Tamil diaspora and won their trust with our work performed with genuine interest to get their support to develop the country.
We have already engaged with the Sri Lankans in Australia and Canada. We intend to bring everyone on board to have a dialogue, that is the way forward to bring them to one platform. We cannot carry forward our issues and differences for generations to come. OOSLA will give due concentration to reconcile with them. We are in touch with them and had a good dialogue to iron out differences to work towards achieving a common goal through short and long term objectives.
A group of prominent Buddhist monks has formed an organisation and are in dialogue with the Tamil diaspora. They issued the ‘Himalayan Declaration’, which promotes Sri Lanka as a country where every individual can live peacefully with dignity, trust, without fear or suspicion while enjoying equal rights’. They had their first meeting in Nepal last April. They met us at the OOSLA office.
Q: It was said the contribution of the Tamil diaspora to develop the North and East is very slow although the war ended 14-years back. What is the progress made by OOSLA to increase the Tamil diaspora engagement to develop these two provinces?
The Tamil diaspora has some individual projects to help people in these two provinces and some are working with NGOs to help war widows and youth. A Sri Lankan living in Australia is helping with a mid-day meal program and a smart class program to help schoolchildren.
Some diaspora people are conducting technical programs like ICT to help the youth. OOSLA is in touch with these individuals supporting us from overseas. We have had several meetings with them to help clear some bottlenecks in the process. We are also building trust while coordinating with them. We had a discussion with the Northern Governor and worked closely with chambers and tried to support them to have a blueprint for the Divisional Secretariats to offer programs for Sri Lankans living overseas.
In relation to post-conflict reconciliation, we have set up a network of OSLs to create understanding among different OSL communities for reconciliation and social cohesion both in Sri Lanka and in countries with large Sri Lankan communities.
Q: The present generation of the diaspora lacks ground realities, including culture, art and traditions of Sri Lanka. Do you have plans to promote these among the diaspora children to get them attracted to the country?
This is a very important move to be taken to make the present generation, who have roots in their motherland aware of their heritage and culture. I think most Sri Lankans families living overseas maintain their traditions but their children learn different languages and cultures. All our missions support Sri Lankan societies to promote our culture through various events. These cultural programs unite all overseas Sri Lankans despite their ethnic differences and also connect to their motherland. We plan to start programs like ‘visit a friend’ or home visits through our Tourist Board in Sri Lanka to promote this link.
Q: There are top-class academics and professionals among the Sri Lankan diaspora population. How do you plan to tap them to get their contribution to develop the country?
Yes, we are in contact with our academics and professionals living abroad. A world renowned microbiologist from the Hong Kong National University, Emeritus Prof Lakshman Samaranayake is scheduled to work with the Colombo University to conduct academic training on scientific writing.
Similarly, there are many Sri Lankan professionals living in Canada and North America ready to help. We are working with the Higher Education Ministry, University Grants Commission and Sri Lanka Science Foundation to get their overseas knowledge reconnected with local institutions of higher learning. They are ready to help the country during their sabbatical leave. OOSLA will be the central point to coordinate with them.
We are getting overwhelming support. Another Sri Lankan living in Singapore is ready to help young people with digital marketing. His idea is to upgrade knowledge among youth on the latest trends to prepare them for the international job market.
Q: While Sri Lanka is now suffering from a ‘brain drain’, OOSLA is proposing a project called ‘brain gain’. Can you explain this project?
We have already started mapping out Sri Lankans living overseas. The academics excelling abroad are ready to support us. We are formulating zones such as North American, Europe, South Asia, Canada, etc. to work together with these professionals and academics in different sectors like agriculture, education, industry, etc. to get their knowledge and contribution to develop these sectors. We have to work with our local stakeholders and if there are gaps in knowledge, knowhow or marketing strategies, they can be tapped through the Sri Lankans living abroad.
When we talk to the academics they are very positive and willing to contribute to the country. OOSLA is coordinating with them to invest in required areas. They all want to give their share to the country that gave them their education free of charge.
OOSLA is the channel to navigate Sri Lanka’s bureaucracy when seeking services from government institutions. They are responding to President Wickremesinghe’s call to join the Government to support the economy in a very positive way.
Q: How do you collaborate with Sri Lankan missions abroad to get more engagement from the diaspora community?
We have 62 missions and have already had dialogues with most of our missions where Sri Lankans predominantly reside in countries like the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, etc. The officials in these missions are in contact with Sri Lankans in their respective countries and report back to OOSLA if there are any issues to be cleared for them to get connected with the country.
