The Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB) has called upon Sri Lankans not to go abroad for jobs via the tourist visa procedure.
Many Sri Lankans who went to Oman and several other Middle Eastern countries have complained to the SLFEB that they are now stranded without jobs in those countries.
Going abroad for jobs via the tourist visa procedure has been discontinued to safeguard them from becoming helpless in those countries due to the activities of unscrupulous foreign job agents. No registration of Sri Lankans is done at present by the SLFEB for Sri Lankans to go abroad under tourist visas for jobs, SLFEB Deputy General Manager Gamini Senarath told the Sunday Observer.
He said nearly 6,802 complaints against bogus job agencies and frauds have been reported to the SLFEB during the past five years and the victims were promptly provided with the legal aid and relief.
SLFEB sources said that about 234 bogus job agents were sued in courts for cheating job seekers during the past three years.
Sri Lankans who go abroad for jobs without registering with the SLFEB would lose insurance rights, he added.