brand logo

Geetha to stop moms with kids aged under 5 from working abroad

28 Oct 2022

  • Letter of request to be sent to President today
BY Mirudhula Thambiah State Minister of Women and Child Affairs Geetha Kumarasinghe stated she will officially request President Ranil Wickremesinghe today (28) to prevent mothers with children below five years of age from working abroad.  Speaking to The Morning, Kumarasinghe said yesterday (27) that she would officially hand over a letter to President Wickremesinghe, making the said request.  “Tomorrow, I am taking the letter to the President. I’m a Minister of State and therefore, I cannot pass Cabinet papers. I have to ask my subject Minister to produce the Cabinet paper,” she added.  She added that earlier, the rule was that if a mother had a child under five years of age, they could not leave for a job abroad. They could engage in a job in Sri Lanka but not a foreign job.  “Especially housemaids who are leaving the country – they can’t leave their children. The reason is that the mother and the child have a special bond. The mother is unhappy when she leaves the child at another place. She will feel depressed and cannot work, and will be psychologically affected,” she added. She also noted that children are unsafe when they are left with other caretakers when their mothers leave for foreign jobs.  “On the other hand, children are unsafe. I am ashamed to say that they say that some fathers have raped the children. Those types of allegations exist. Therefore, how can mothers leave their children who are under two years of age?”  Kumarasinghe also noted: “This (a reference to permitting mothers with children under five years of age to go overseas for work) had been approved by a Cabinet paper. Now, I am begging the President to reverse that and to make it five years again. I don’t know how far this will work, but I know that the President would consider the matter.”  


More News..