Sri Lankan Migration to Gulf: Female Breadwinners – Domestic Workers

Abstract

The leading destination of female labour migrants for domestic work has been the Gulf regions of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar. Until around 2007 women migrants accounted for over 75% of the migrant flow. With increasing encouragement given to male recruitments in the skilled and unskilled labour category, male migration is gradually gaining ground. The Gulf countries, becoming aware of the growing numbers of guest migrants have brought in regulations and curbs to discourage long stays in the country, and consequently, labour migrants’ sojourn in the country consists of a couple of years at a time. Women migrants assert that the only avenue by which they could come out of their poverty is through migration, and often is the sole breadwinner of the family. Migration is likely to become a mainstay economic avenue both for the country and the migrant, although trends in destination, and conditions could change.