The Sri Lankan authorities yesterday cautioned its citizens against attempting to cross over into Israel through illegal channels owing to the prevailing heightened tension in the Jewish state and surrounding vicinity, a top official said Wednesday.
There have been reports, detections and even arrests of Sri Lankan in recent times for allegedly attempting to cross over into Israel through illegal and other unsafe channels particularly through the Jordan border, Deputy Director General Training with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLFEB) Gamini Senarath Yapa said.
The SLFEB is the sole Government authority that sanctions employment for Sri Lankans seeking employment overseas.
“Many Sri Lankans are been lured into the Jewish State seeking placements as caregivers with a monthly salary of a little over US$ 1,750 and therefore they opt to take a risk.
But this should never be the case owing to the current prevailing conditions in that region since they are undocumented and could not be accounted for should the need arise” Yapa said.
At present there are an estimated 8,000 Sri Lankans working or living in Israel with nearly 90 percent of them being female caregivers, he said.
Colombo has no immediate plans to impose a travel ban to that country and at the same time another group of some 100 trained Sri Lankan caregivers are on a waiting list to get into that country, he said.
Apart from the SLFEB the Sri Lankan job hopefuls require approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo and the Population and Immigration Authority in Israel prior to leaving the country, Yapa said.
Some 32-plus Sri Lankans are also known to be in Israel Jails for violating immigration rules and regulations, he added.
