SRI LANKA: Furore over Dead Worker Shows Migration Risks

By Feizal Samath Reprint | | Print |

Feizal Samath

COLOMBO, Aug 20 2002 (IPS) - The bizarre case of the body of a Sri Lankan domestic worker in Kuwait, which arrived home without some of her organs, is the latest grim reminder of the vulnerability of thousands of women working in unknown lands.

This is not the first time that dead Sri Lankans have returned without their organs, activists say. “There have been a few other similar cases but the families of the victims didn’t want to make any complaints,” said Nimalka Fernando, a lawyer and human rights activist.

But this latest, widely publicised case reported in newspapers at the weekend has stunned the country. The government minister in charge of women’s affairs is calling for an investigation, after the victim’s family alleged that the organs may have been removed in a body parts scam.

Colombo city coroner Edward Ahangama has been told that Somalatha Satharasinghe, 41, went to become a domestic worker in Kuwait in May, but returned last week a coffin with parts of her brain missing along with other organs like the bladder, corneas and kidneys.

“This is a very pathetic incident that has befallen housemaids who are the highest foreign income generators in the country,” an infuriated Women’s Affairs Minister Amara Piyaseeli Ratnayake was quoted as saying in the ‘Daily Mirror’ newspaper Monday. “This incident should not be disregarded without further investigation.”

Coroner Ahangama has ordered an inquiry that he says must look into whether the woman may have died because of the removal of body parts. “There is some doubt over her death.”

The victim’s brother said that the family was informed on Jul. 10 that Satharasinghe was admitted to a Kuwait hospital after a sudden bout of fainting.

Two days later, she died. On Jul. 28, the family was told her kidneys had been removed because she had donated her organs – but it alleges that Satharasinghe’s organs had been removed under a sale-of-body-parts scam.

But L K Ruhunuge, deputy general manager at the state-owned Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), told IPS that the victim was suddenly taken ill, went into a coma and was believed to have been brain dead.

“Since the hospital had two patients that needed the kidneys, the transplant was done in accordance with Kuwaiti laws, we have been informed,” Ruhunge said.

Sri Lanka’s ambassador in Kuwait had informed Colombo that the removal of the kidneys was in accordance with Article 6 of Kuwait’s Transplantation Law of 1987, said Gamini Kariyawasam, director-general of consular affairs of the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry.

He said that compensation of 3,900 Kuwaiti dinar (13,000 U.S. dollars) would be given to the relatives of the deceased by the government of Kuwait, host to hundreds of thousands of domestic workers from Asia.

Beyond the specifics of this case, activists say it reflects how little Sri Lanka’s migrant workers and their families know about the different environment in the countries where they work.

Often, Sri Lankan women are unaware of the dangers at the other end when they take up unskilled jobs overseas, says David Soysa, director at the Migrant Services Centre (MSC), which is organising a regional summit next week here on foreign migrant domestic workers.

“They don’t have a clue about conditions and the environment. Poverty forces the women to take these jobs without question,” he said.

Often, he adds, they are deprived of their basic human rights after going abroad — and are not even aware of their rights in the first place.

“The biggest problem is that there is no responsibility on the part of the labour-receiving country. There should be bilateral labour agreements so that both governments are responsible,” he explained.

Just last week, President Chandrika Kumaratunga expressed concern over the social of having thousands of poor, young Sri Lankan women working in the Middle East to maintain their families back home.

“The case of the migrant worker is a complex issue and the victims – often for life – are innocent children,” the Sri Lankan leader told IPS in a rare interview. Common problems in the homes of Sri Lankan women working abroad are broken families, neglected children, alcoholic and unfaithful husbands and incest.

At the same time, she said that women ought not to be restrained from working abroad as domestic workers because the government should not dictate to women.

Migrant workers remit more than 1 million U.S. dollars a year, the large quantum of foreign exchange for the country.

“We need to work with home governments to ensure proper safeguards for our women,” she said.

Fernando says there have been at least two or three more cases of dead migrant workers coming home with missing organs.

“Once, when the families of a victim opened the coffin during the funeral in a north-central village, they found a leg missing. Though angry, no complaint was made fearing repercussions,” she said, explaining why previous cases went unreported.

She praised the family of the latest victim for standing up to the injustice and said, “We should empower them and fight this case internationally through a U.N. tribunal.”

“The government talks a lot about the money generated by Sri Lankan migrants but tries to hide these issues. I have often heard ministers saying there are deaths, rape or other harassment of migrant workers but these are just random cases,” she added. “Should we forget these issues because just few women are victims?”

Fernando recalled another case where a woman had contracted HIV/AIDS while working in the Middle East. “She was raped there but was afraid to speak out on her plight.”

Soysa from the MSC said the Aug. 26-28 regional summit would discuss a range of issues affecting foreign migrant domestic workers, including vulnerability especially to HIV/AIDS.