Increase in number of Sri Lankan housemaids in Gulf

(Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash)
The number of workers leaving Sri Lanka to take up jobs as housemaids in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the Far East has soared by more than 16 percent in the past year.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar were the main destinations in the Middle East for domestic employees coming from the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, with Japan and South Korea most popular in the Far East.
Figures for the areas highlighted show that a total of 64,965 people left Sri Lanka to work as housemaids in 2018, an increase from 55,884 the year before.
Madhava Deshapriya, deputy general manager for corporate communications at the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment, told Arab News on Friday that the upward trend is being put down to recruitment agencies making salary payments of up to 6,000 Saudi riyal ($1,600) to housemaids in advance of them leaving Sri Lanka for their new jobs abroad.
One Sri Lankan recruitment agent, Abdul Rahman, said new laws restricting working hours for women had encouraged maids to seek out better-paid jobs in other countries. It is estimated that there are 1.5 million Sri Lankans currently working in the Middle East.
(Source: Arab News)
Latest Headlines in Sri Lanka
- Maldives offers free 90-day tourist visa for Sri Lankans starting July 29, 2025 July 30, 2025
- CID warns public about rising WhatsApp scams in Sri Lanka July 30, 2025
- Sri Lanka to scrap MPs’ pensions, suspend vehicle permits July 30, 2025
- Roshel Abeygunawardena surrenders over illegal jeep probe July 30, 2025
- IGP Deshabandu seeks anticipatory bail over Galle Face protest probe July 29, 2025