3,000 Lanka migrant workers return home

More than 3,000 migrant workers with expired visas have returned home from Saudi Arabia, according to a statement issued by the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE). They availed themselves of the amnesty declared by the Saudi government.
“We have issued more than 9,600 temporary passports,” said Adambawa Uthumalebbe, consul general of Sri Lanka in Jeddah. “More than 500 workers are currently waiting for their exit visas, while around 2,300 workers have applied for temporary passports to change their sponsors and around 4,000 workers have decided to leave the Kingdom.”
Uthumalebbe confirmed that 3,000 migrant workers with expired visas returned to Colombo without any complaints. He said the consulate has been very helpful in taking care of these workers and processing their documents.
“There are fewer crowds outside the consulate following the extension of the amnesty period. I assume due to Ramadan, the crowd has diminished,” said the diplomat. He expects a number of workers to return to the consulate after Ramadan to normalize their work status.
The consul general thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah for extending the amnesty and the Saudi government and the higher authorities for providing adequate instructions to complete procedures and for extending the necessary support.
Early this month, King Abdullah extended the amnesty period for undocumented foreign workers in the Kingdom to Nov. 3 after it expired on July 3. The extension brought relief to thousands of migrant workers, who had not rectified their situation.
A recent announcement by the Ministry of Labor confirmed the completion of nearly 4 million labor correction cases during the past four months, including 1.18 million transfers of services.