South Asian Migration to the GCC Countries in the Global Financial Crisis ADB-CDS Study: Sri Lanka –Country Paper

Abstract

In the early 1960s, migration for employment consisted of educated professionals such as doctors and engineers, who were the recipients of free education by the state. This deprived the country of much needed human resources, and consequently the country adopted various measures to stem the flow. The receiving countries were mainly Britain and the US. The oil boom in the 1970s changed this pattern drastically as these Middle east countries had thus the finances but not the manpower, and were able to attract labour from Sri Lanka and other South Asian countries with the lure of higher wages. This wave of labour migration benefited the country greatly through the foreign exchange received which helped to reduce the Balance of Payments. This source of revenue, even now overtake the aid packages received from donors.