A media conference was held at the Papiliyana Purana Rajamaha Viharaya to brief the public about the forthcoming New Peopleโs Front 21 Nugegoda rally. New Peopleโs Front party leader Sugishwara Bandara made a powerful, emotional statement at this event, condemning what he called the governmentโs betrayal of the Sri Lankan foreign workers behind the unexpected Customs ban on goods brought home by migrant employees.
Bandara started by reminding the country of the sacrifices made by Sri Lankan migrant workers. โThe foreign workers played a major role in bringing this Compass government to power. The main sector that strengthens our countryโs dollar reserves is the foreign remittances sent to Sri Lanka by foreign workers.โ He said these workers placed deep trust in Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the Compass movement, saying, โThey bought their own air tickets, took leave and voted to hand over the country to Anura for good luck.โ
However, twelve months into office, the government has not fulfilled a single promise made to this community, said Bandara. โThe leaders of the compass have not fulfilled a single promise they made to the foreign workers,โ he said. A key election pledge was to provide overseas Sri Lankans with voting rights. โBefore the election, they said that they would give voting rights to the foreign workers. But in this 2026 budget, not a single rupee has been allocated to ensure the voting rights of the foreign workers,โ said Bandara.
He also criticised the pension scheme proposed in the budget. Though the budget has allocated two billion rupees for the pension fund, he explained the inadequacy of the allocation: โIf we divide 2000 million by 1.8 million workers, only Rs. 1100 has been allocated for a worker. We ask Vijitha Herath what kind of pension can be given with Rs. 1100.โ He further said that no government in the last seven decades had treated foreign workers as poorly: โThere has never been a government in the past 76 years that has treated overseas workers like this.โ
Bandara was also disappointed that the budget did not address various long-standing issues related to the country’s migrant workers, including wage discrepancies and abuse and exploitation in foreign households. He said, โThis budget does not even mention the issue of resolving the difficulties of overseas workers. No proper action has been taken.โ
However, his most severe admonition fell upon the sudden Customs circular that banned migrant workers from bringing home essential household items they purchased abroad. “The Customs, an institution under the President, has issued a circular imposing a ban on the goods sent to Sri Lanka by overseas workers from today,” Bandara explained, referring to televisions, washing machines, and wooden furniture commonly brought home by workers returning from the Middle East after years of labour.
He said, “A big dream of the workers who go to the Middle East is to take back to Sri Lanka the televisions, refrigerators and washing machines that they have been working hard for 2 years.” According to him, the new ban destroys this long-held aspiration. He further said that foreign employers sometimes gift used household appliances to loyal workers and now those too cannot be brought home. Bandara said, “Therefore, the government is taking steps to kill the foreign workers without killing them.” He added that the migrant workers who thought they were running away from the “76-year curse” found themselves in an even bigger struggle: “The foreign workers who hated the 76-year curse and thought they needed to get rid of that curse have now found themselves in a darkness thicker than the 76-year curse.” He concluded by sharply attacking the insensitive attitude of the government, saying that because of the circular issued by the Customs, the overseas workers are forced to come to Sri Lanka empty-handed in a hostile country and listen to the gossip of the old man and say, โOh my God.โ
