A group of 13 women who are currently being detained at the safe house of the Sri Lankan Embassy in Oman will be given priority for returning to the island considering their good conduct during the stay in the safe house, the embassy has informed the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), the Daily News learns.
The embassy has already begun deporting the Sri Lankans currently in the safe house where a group of eight arrived in the country on December 24 and another six women are due to arrive early morning today (3).
It was reported that the Oman Police had arrested a group of 20 Sri Lankan women who had behaved in an aggressive manner against the Ambassador and the Sri Lankan Mission, damaging the property of the embassy, demanding that the process to send them back to Sri Lanka be expedited.
They have been blacklisted by Omani authorities, thus preventing them from entering the country again in the future, following this incident. They are also currently being detained in the safe house until they are provided with the air tickets by their families in Sri Lanka, the bureau said.
Currently, there are 85 Sri Lankan women being detained in the safe house, of which 61 had left for jobs in Oman after registering with the SLBFE and 24 had left with a visit visa, which is illegal, the SLBFE said. Of the 24, 13 women had reached Oman via Dubai, while 11 had reached Oman directly.
Also, of the 24 in the safe house, 18 have been blacklisted by Oman’s Labour Ministry after they fled the houses where they were working and negotiations are being held with the Omani authorities and their respective employers on the future course of action regarding them, a spokesperson from the bureau told the Daily News.
The families of these 18 women should pay for the air ticket if they are to be brought back to Sri Lanka, she said.
All the Sri Lankan women who had left for jobs in Oman illegally using visit visas will be blacklisted by the bureau and legal action will be taken against these women and the agencies and the individuals who had sent them to Oman illegally, the spokesperson further said.
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