Repatriation of workers from the Middle East to begin in November

COLOMBO (News1st): The repatriation of workers from the middle east region will begin in November, Sri Lanka's foreign employment bureau has said. Steps will be taken to bring them back depending on the availability of quarantine centres, the spokesman for the bureau said on Wednesday. He noted that 68 Sri Lankan expatriates had died overseas and that the bureau had paid a compensation of Rs 500,000 to their families. Around 45,000 Sri Lankans are currently stranded in the Middle East.