Colombo, March 25- The entire operations of Foreign Employment would be digitized soon, where migrant workers can coordinate via an app, Labour and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara said yesterday.

He said that cabinet approval has been granted in this regard.

He was speaking to journalists in Matale on the sidelines of the Jayagamu Sri Lanka Programme yesterday. 

This would make the Foreign Employment Bureau thwart unnecessary interference and handle illegal activities effectively.

He said that this would also help eliminate traffickers and fraudsters from the foreign employment sector, and would improve communications between migrant workers and authorities.

“It will also improve grievance handling procedures,” he said.

“When the sector is digitized it will encompass everything from the affairs at the embassy, to the recruitment of employees and the SLBFE.

“Every migrant worker will have an App on their phone. The app will make the coordination between the worker the embassy, and the staff handling the issue easier,” he said;

“Our office in Colombo will immediately be notified via a message when a migrant worker is in distress.”

When this system is established, a majority of problems in the sector can be solved,” the minister said.

He pointed out that under the current SLBFE Act, the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment had no authority over sub-agents. 

“The SLBFE Act has been amended to deal with sub-agents, and it is now in the final phase with the Attorney General's Department. It will soon go to Parliament.

“After that, the sub-agents will also be regulated just like a licensed agency. However under the amendment that agency has to be responsible for these sub-agents,” he added.