Is Emigration of Workforce a Foreign Exchange Earner or a Modern Slavery?

Abstract

There are several avenues whereby a country is able to acquire foreign exchange reserves. This article strives to study one such source, this being the earnings from workforce migration from Sri Lanka to other countries. The moot point raised is whether or not the government should encourage any kind of employment even that bordering on slavery, in order to raise its foreign reserves. From a study of the data available on the type of worker, it emerged that over 60% of emigrants are made up of housemaids and unskilled-labour (66.3%). The author argues that from this data, our migrant labour could be compared to the slaves of the past era, engaging in servant like jobs or even in anti moral activities. This gives lie to the perception that the emigration in Sri Lanka is an important contributor to national development. It is strongly suggested by the author that the government takes steps to upgrade the level of migrants by providing professional training so that the earnings can be commensurate with the type of employment.