Age Limit

Jan 26, 2011 (LBO) - Sri Lanka has raised the minimum age of those going abroad as domestic workers to 21 years from 18 to mainly to protect young female workers, the government said.







"As per the data nearly 50 percent of Sri Lankans migrating for foreign employment are females of which large category goes as domestic workers," the government's information office said in a statement.

"Majority of labour receiving countries do not have a minimum age limit for females to be taken in for employment to their countries, especially for the domestic sector.

"But a tendency for abuses and vulnerability to different forms of exploitation appears to be commonly associated with young female domestic workers abroad.

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Up to June 2010, 134,670 Sri Lankans have migrated for foreign employment, of which 59,377 were females.