The Sri Lankan government has decided to raise the compensation for families of migrant workers who die while employed abroad, increasing the amount from Rs. 600,000 to Rs. 2 million.
Kosala Wickramasinghe, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), said the compensation applies to any Sri Lankan worker who travels overseas through SLBFE registration.
Wickramasinghe also highlighted that, as of the end of August, Sri Lankan migrant workers had remitted $5.2 billion to the country.
So far this year, around 220,000 Sri Lankans have taken up foreign employment. Remittances are expected to reach $7 billion by the end of 2025, with the possibility of increasing to $7.5 billion in 2026.
