Govt. to partly lift FBR regulation on females seeking employment abroad

The government has decided to partially lift the controversial Family Background Report (FBR) regulation imposed on female migrant employment seekers.

After considering the facts submitted by the Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara, the Cabinet of Ministers on Monday approved a proposal to exempt females with children less two years of age from the requirement to submit the FBR in order to take on employment abroad.

FBR was introduced in July 2013 to restrict mothers of children under five years of age seeking employment abroad, particularly in the Middle East. As a result, the number of female migrant workers continued to decline.

In 2012, the country saw 138,312 females migrating for employment abroad. , this number declined from 90,677 in 2015 and to 80,985 in 2019.

The vast majority of the females who migrate to Middle Eastern countries are employed as house maids.

“Several international reports published regarding the protection of women’s rights point out that an impact to women’s rights occur due to the compulsory requirement of submitting the ‘family background report’ which is existing at present with the intention of confirming that the children of the female migrant employees who leave for domestic work abroad are not less than 05 years,” the Department of Government Information stated.

Also, it has been reported that in some instances, where females who applied for FBR reports faced inconveniences as some officers delayed issuing their FBR reports unnecessarily, although they met all the required qualifications.