Brain drain and right thing to do - EDITORIAL

Sri Lanka is painfully getting ready for the worst of the brain drain that’s taking place in the country. Qualified professionals are seeking greener pastures given that the new government still cannot give the assurance that it can turn a dwindling economy around. 

Qualified professionals in the fields of information technology, medicine and science are said to be finding employment abroad. What’s worrying is that information regarding true brain drain figures is not made available to the public by the government. 

There are also huge concerns regarding immigration information with regard to those leaving the medicine field. Critics point out that when doctors and nurses leave their places of employment their replacements might not be so effective; given the short period the latter gets to undergo training and be ready for these 
demanding jobs. 

"In this backdrop the government is encouraging even the state worker to find employment abroad and is even willing to grant them no paid leave for a period of five years; so that they can return to their old jobs when the economy finds its feet again"

According to Japanese Times- (Tagged as The Independent Voice of Asia)-as many as 113,140 Sri Lankans had migrated abroad during the first six months of 2022. This is a huge leap in numbers given that there were only 30,797 Sri Lankan migrants during the same period the previous year. 

Among those going abroad are also students who have just completed their A Level Examination. The Sri Lankan school education system was disrupted for a long time due to the fuel crisis and the pandemic. This is also another reason for students to consider moving abroad to complete their education. 

Then there is the presence of mafias in almost all vital industries like fuel, electricity, cement and tiles. Even just to harbor a dream of building a small home at present in Sri Lanka is quite unthinkable given the non-availability of over 300 items which are on a banned list of imports. 

If one visits the Department of Immigration and Emigration there is an endless queue on any given day. But foreign universities in most European countries are not very keen on taking Sri Lankan students because of the dollar crisis that’s severely affecting the island’s economy. 

In this backdrop the government is encouraging even the state worker to find employment abroad and is even willing to grant them no paid leave for a period of five years; so that they can return to their old jobs when the economy finds its feet again. This facility is however granted on the condition that the Sri Lankan migrant maintains a bank account here in the island and sends a portion of his or her earnings back home. The migrants have to maintain their bank account back home under their name. 

There was a time when local establishments cut down on staff while following cost cutting measures. Now we hear of local employees leaving voluntarily to migrate in search of employment or to complete studies. Sri Lanka’s performing industries are painfully negotiating the loss of such skilled employees. 

Another aspect that demands reconsideration is the banned list of import items. Critics point out that some of those items like mobile phones and laptops are closely connected to the professional careers of full-time and part-time students; hence being a factor that fuels brain drain. The government however has stated that it might revise this list enabling the importing of some of the items when the economy starts showing signs of recovery. 

The brain drain in the island was perhaps a repercussion that took place because the present set of lawmakers seem to be wasting time arguing about past errors committed by either government that was in power rather than finding solutions to the crisis. But the brain drain as a whole seems to be the result of engaging in discussions among themselves aimed at finding the answer to the question ‘what is the right thing to do at this moment of time’?