The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a proposal to sign two labour agreements with Thailand: a Memorandum of Understanding on labour cooperation and a supplementary agreement governing the employment of Sri Lankan workers there, both running for five years.
Cabinet spokesman and Minister Vijitha Herath announced the decision to reporters. “An agreement has been reached to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Labor Cooperation and a supplementary agreement on the employment of Sri Lankan workers in Thailand,” he said.
What the agreements are meant to do
The arrangements follow bilateral discussions between the two countries and are intended to establish formal cooperation between the competent labour authorities on each side.
Under the proposals, those authorities will set up mechanisms to make recruitment and deployment of Sri Lankan workers to Thailand transparent and efficient, and to structure the process of sending workers out and bringing them back.
The agreements are also framed as protective: they are intended to safeguard the legal rights, welfare and security of Sri Lankan workers employed in Thailand, and to introduce measures against human trafficking and labour exploitation.
The timing
The approval comes a week before a significant change in the other direction. From September 15, Sri Lankan passport holders will no longer be eligible for Thailand’s 60-day visa exemption scheme, a removal announced by the Royal Thai Embassy that placed Sri Lanka among 21 nationalities dropped from the arrangement.
The two moves point in opposite directions — tighter rules for Sri Lankans arriving as visitors, a formalised channel for those going to work — and neither report links them or says whether they were negotiated together.
Context
The decision follows a period of activity on foreign employment policy, including the Bureau of Foreign Employment’s first open recruitment round in 40 years, announced the same week.
Neither report gives a signing date, says which ministries or agencies are designated as the competent authorities, or estimates how many Sri Lankan workers are currently employed in Thailand or expected to be placed under the new framework.
