During this past month, hardly a day has passed without a page one story of large numbers of our former soldiers and officer-ranked military personnel being ‘duped’ into fighting in the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine.

Let’s face it, our soldiers and ex-military personnel are doing today, exactly what many other citizens have been forced to do since the economic crunch of April 2022. The country declared itself bankrupt and announced a temporary suspension of repayment of all external debt by April 12.

In short it meant, we had no cash to repay external debts or import essentials such as fuel and gas, basic foods or medicines leaving tens of thousands of people in queues for basic food requirements. By September inflation had risen to a record 73 percent forcing millions of people to cut three meals a day to make ends meet. Our currency fell over 60 percent in 2022.   

At the time the World Bank estimated over 500,000 people had slipped into poverty. By November, inflation reached a new high, making it difficult for even people who were previously well-off to feed their families. Basic items were out of reach for a majority. 

This led to tens of thousands of people moving to other countries in search of jobs in foreign currency after inflation soared to an all-time high. They were forced to leave our shores to seek employment abroad to help feed their families in the face of an absolute loss of hope. 

With the civil war in our country coming to an end in May 2009, the allowances paid to military personnel have been reduced as have been many other perks available to them during the war. In real terms, it is a salary cut and media reports reveal around 20,000 defence personnel who deserted the forces were officially delisted from their services as part of a general amnesty. 

These people are highly skilled warriors whose specialisation is warfare. They are now left with few options to better their careers or feed their young families in this country.  

A number of them have found low-paying jobs in private security establishments in this country, while several others have been absorbed into the underworld. 

Speaking at a function at Ananda College Colombo, Defence Secretary General Kamal Gunaratne admitted that ex-military personnel like many citizens in the country are leaving the country to provide a better life to their children and families. 

He pointed out soldiers usually retire after 22 years of service. From then on, (from the time they are around 42 years old) they have to look after the needs of their young families. The implication -at much lower wages! 
With almost no alternate prospects in their own country; they like droves of other young adult citizens, are forced to seek employment in foreign lands. As mentioned earlier, their specialty lies in the field of warfare. The war in Ukraine offers them mouth-watering salaries. And so they are forced to take on these dangerous missions. 
In a similar manner we send out our women to work as domestics in foreign lands. Many of them suffer abuse of both sexual and physical nature at the hands of their employers abroad. In our own country underage estate kids work as domestics in the more well-to-do homes of Colombo’s rich and elite. 

Rather than accusing Russia, Ukraine or any other country of recruiting our military personnel to fight in their wars, can we not offer these men and women who served this country a formal education to better themselves in more peaceful occupations? 

Why do we not try to educate the poorer class of females in this country who are forced to suffer abuse as cheap domestic labour abroad?  

Is it because we look at them as statistics who bring in a major part of our foreign exchange -targeted to increase by 17 percent, from the recorded 5,969 million dollars in 2023 to 7,000 million dollars this year? 

Shame on our leaders and shame on us all.