The last week’s revelation of a seeming sex trafficking racket by a group consisting of employment agents and state officials is not something that we hear for the first time. So many times before we have seen Sri Lankan women speaking from so-called safe houses in Middle Eastern countries over social media explaining the horrifying experience they have been undergoing. We have read thousands of newspaper reports on such incidents since the early eighties when Sri Lankan women started to travel to various countries, especially in West Asia for employment. 

Yet, still we are witnessing such incidents. We occasionally hear about investigations into those incidents initiated by the ministry in charge of foreign employment or the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). However, recalling any incident where any operator of an employment agency or a state official who had been hand in glove in such a racket having been convicted is extremely difficult. Still, the operations of such agencies are continuing unabated. 
According to reports emanated so far, around 90 Sri Lankan women have been found stranded this month in Muscat, the Capital of the Sultanate of Oman after being trafficked by the so-called employment agents before they are left high and dry in a city the environment, legal system or the language of which they know nothing about. When they approached the Sri Lankan Embassy for help, according to reports, they have stepped into another trap. It was said that some of the officials there are also part of this racket and some officials had sexually abused the hapless women. 

A local travel agent involved in the racket has been nabbed at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) on Saturday on his return to the country. It was alleged that he had posed as an official of the Labour and Foreign Employment Ministry to carry out his illegal activities. Reports said the suspect was produced in the Negombo Magistrate courts after recording his statement and then remanded until November 24.

Also, the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) has suspended a ‘Labour Officer’ seconded to the Sri Lankan Embassy in Muscat and recalled him following serious allegations linked to abuse and sex trafficking, The official has been accused of being a pivotal player in the sex trafficking ring along with some Department of Immigration and Emigration officials at the international airport at Katunayake.

As usual, the authorities are blaming the women for leaving the country for foreign employment on a visit visa or tourist visa without being registered with the FEB or obtaining training provided by the Bureau. True, they should have gone through the proper channels. But in this particular case, if the man who had taken the women to Oman had posed as an official of the Foreign Employment Ministry, the gullible women would have had nothing to fear or suspect. They might not have known what the travel visa or employment visa is. They had been told that they were being taken to UAE. But they might not have known which airport they have landed in. Even if they had identified the airport, they might not have identified the border crossing between UAE and Oman en route to Muscat. Many of them might not have been familiar with travel procedures as this might be their first trip overseas. Ultimately, they might not have known where they were, or what fate lurks ahead or what they have to do next or who is going to take care of them, when the agent left them in Muscat. 

It is clearly pointless to blame these hapless women who are occasionally stranded in Middle Eastern cities, as they are desperate in finding employment abroad in light of the issues they face in Sri Lanka. They are not adventure seekers. The current economic crisis has also pushed many people to resort to do-or-die methods. When the employment agents or their sub-agents lure them to go for foreign employment, they would take them for granted. 

If something goes wrong, the authorities would accuse the employment agent who was not registered with the FEB and blame the victims as well for not being cautious. These unregistered agencies are not located in jungles far from human habitats. Such agencies function in main cities since the eighties and people seeking employment visit these places regularly. However, authorities turn a blind eye to these places. They raid particular agencies only after a media outcry over stranded women or sex scandal involving them.

Migrant workers brought more than $ 7 billion to the country in foreign exchange before COVID-19 and the economic crisis hit the country. After the pandemic and the economic downturn now it is slowly picking up again. Sri Lankans started to exploit the Middle Eastern job market since the early eighties. Yet, forty years on, authorities have failed to create proper mechanisms that would prevent unscrupulous elements from financially and sexually exploiting hapless migrant workers.