(COLOMBO) – Sri Lanka on Tuesday officially endorsed an agreement with Israel that will see thousands of local workers taking up employment in the agriculture sector and beyond in the Jewish State.
The Cabinet of Ministers this week approved a proposal in this regard that had been submitted by the Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment.
“In terms of the said agreement, the Population, Immigration and Territory Authority of that country expects to recruit labour for agricultural activities of Israel,” Cabinet Spokesman Bandula Gunawardana told the media in Colombo.
Gunawardana assured that Sri Lankan workers will be provided with first-class security but did not elaborate
At present there are some 8,000 documented Sri Lankans employed in Israel mainly as caregivers and other domestic sectors.
However an undisclosed number of Sri Lankans are believed to have arrived into that country through clandestine and irregular channels and therefore they remain undocumented, a senior official with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) said.
The SLBFE is the sole Government authority that is sanctioned to authorize foreign employment for Sri Lankans.
At least two Sri Lankans were killed during the October 7 Hamaz raid on Israeli settlements and their remains were subsequently returned to their respective families in Colombo.
Israel is currently waging a bloody war against Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip following the October 7 attack and an estimated 15, 000 Palestinians including some 5,000 children have been killed so far, according to UN aid agencies and others.
