• President does not think there will be 10,000 to go to Israel.  people will not go to a war torn area

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauff Hakeem who made his remarks during the budget debate drew the attention of President Ranil Wickremesinghe to Daily Mirror lead story headlined ‘Corruption taints recruitment for Korean, Israeli Job’ in yesterday’s edition, though the latter openly said in Parliament that he was not a reader of any publication by Wijeya Newspapers Ltd.   

Mr. Hakeem was critical of Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara for attempting to send people for jobs in Israel despite the crisis.    He said the Arab diplomatic community stationed in Colombo is also perturbed over the move to send people to Israel for work. He asked why people are sent there despite the crisis. President Ranil Wickeremesinghe, who responded said Sri Lanka had been sending workers to Middle East countries over the years and this is also part of that agreement.
 “I don’t think there will be 10,000 to go to Israel. I don’t think people will go to a war torn area’’he said.