Ambassador Shani Calyaneratne Karunaratne paid a courtesy call on Minister of Labour of the Republic of Lebanon Camille Abousleiman on 09 October 2019 at the Labour Ministry premises.
Conveying his appreciation on the contribution of Sri Lankan migrant workers in Lebanon, the Minister warmly welcomed the Ambassador.
He recalled the conditions prevailing presently in Lebanon with regard to the migrant domestic workers and said that further discussions are in progress on the amendments proposed to the existing Standard Unified Labour Contract for Migrant Domestic Workers. The recommendations of the Evaluation Committee in this regard are to be executed in collaboration with the Directorate Generale of General Security (Department of Immigration).
Minister Abousleiman mentioned that he takes a strong position to change the Kafala System, and prefers to establish a standard framework than individual Bilateral MoUs with labour sending countries.
Ambassador Karunaratne discussed the present status of Sri Lankan domestic workers, and Sri Lanka being the most preferred labour sending country to Lebanon. The Minister further said that his office is of zero tolerance on any mistreatment associated with migrant workers.
Ministerspoke about the aftermath the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka, particularly the tourism industry, and Ambassador stated the progress made by Sri Lanka.
The meeting was attended by Acting Director General of the Ministry Marleine Atallah, and Head of Chancery, Second Secretary, Chathuri Perera.
