According to the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), more than 194,801 Sri Lankans have left the island for foreign employment so far this year, and the government plans to secure a total of 300,000 new jobs in foreign countries by 2022.
“The majority left for jobs in the Middle East,” SLBFE General Manager D.D.P. Senanayake told The Morning yesterday (23) We are currently promoting foreign employment through job fairs and hope to meet our target for this year.”
The SLBFE is already conducting the necessary registrations for sending State sector officers for employment and referral overseas.
These issues were raised during a meeting between Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake and State officials about increasing foreign exchange earnings and foreign employment for public servants.
Meanwhile, the total number of passports issued from January 1 to August 31 this year, according to the Department of Immigration and Emigration, is 560,292. A total of 282,672 travel documents were issued to all countries, 229 were official travel documents, and 54 were diplomatic travel documents.
Meanwhile, according to the yearly analysis of issued travel documents, the department issued a total of 234,605 travel documents from 1 January 2021 to 28 October 2021, representing an increase from the figure for the same period the previous year (2020).
The majority were obtained through one-day service, while the remainder were obtained through regular service. Furthermore, emergency certificates had been obtained.
