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Muscat: Sri Lankan nationals seeking
jobs in Oman will now have to undergo electronic fingerprinting and biometric
scanning prior to their departure. The move aims at cracking down on rampant
fraud and other irregularities in the recruitment process, a senior official of
the Sri Lankan Embassy, Muscat, said.
The new system will help prevent
fraudulent practices such as using forged passports. "Sri Lanka Foreign
Employment Bureau (SLFEB) is using special software to store fingerprint data
of the migrant workers going abroad for employment," M.M. Deshapriya, the
Counsellor of Labour at Sri Lankan Embassy in Muscat, told Times of Oman.
Rackets busted
It is learnt that the Sri Lankan
government was forced to introduce this new system after busting several
rackets where Sri Lankan nationals had secured employment in Middle East,
including Oman, by submitting forged certificates.
In December 2012, police officers of
Colombo Fraud Bureau had arrested four people, including a woman, from a house
in Colombo, and they were found in possession of 300 forged medical
certificates. It was revealed that these certificates were issued by various
medical institutes.
In addition, an English typewriter, two
forged rubber stamps similar to those used by government-registered medical
institutions, two passports, and numerous certificates were seized by the
police.
Initial investigations by the police
revealed that the accused had charged big sums of money from people who had
failed medical examinations for Middle East, by providing them with forged
medical certificates.
Housemaids and those working in the
hospitality industry in particular are required to undergo strict medical tests
before being issued a work visa for countries in Middle East, including Oman.
"Now, this fingerprinting system for migrant workers will help
us in retaining their personal identification data for reference,"
Deshapriya said.
This system will also help jobseekers who
face difficulties in the event of losing their passports in those countries.
"The electronic fingerprinting system
will also help in the ongoing blacklisting of migrant workers who return to Sri
Lanka after being convicted in crimes for various offences. Most of these
workers had been found guilty of over-staying their visas, robbery, engaging in
prostitution and flouting the laws of Oman," the Sri Lankan Embassy
official said.
Housemaids
Then there are cases where some housemaids have the habit of running away from their employers regularly. "With the blacklisting system, these workers would be prohibited from obtaining foreign employment and thereby they could minimise the number of issues relating to migrant workers," the official added.
Housemaids
Then there are cases where some housemaids have the habit of running away from their employers regularly. "With the blacklisting system, these workers would be prohibited from obtaining foreign employment and thereby they could minimise the number of issues relating to migrant workers," the official added.
There are currently 1.8 million migrant
workers from Sri Lanka mostly in the Middle East with around 30,000 employed in
Oman, of which 17,000 are working as housemaids.
http://www.timesofoman.com/News/Article-5716.aspx
