The Government will pay compensation for families of the deceased who have submitted their claims to the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), an official from the Bureau told the Daily News yesterday. The official said that some 68 migrant workers including 31 from Saudi Arabia have been reported dead due to the COVID-19. However, he pointed out that only 14 families have made their claims for compensation.

The SLBFE has taken steps to provide insurance compensation to 14 migrant workers who died due to Covid-19.

The official said the relevant files have already been submitted to the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation on behalf of the 14 deceased workers.

The 14 dead included 12 male workers and two female workers. Nine of them have died in Saudi Arabia, four in Kuwait and one in Dubai.

The compensation will be paid to registered workers of the Bureau, who had died due to Covid-19 according to the Insurance Agreement for Migrant Workers entered between the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment and the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation.

In addition, arrangements have been made to pay Rs. 40,000 to each family which has lost the deceased workers to conduct their respective religious observances as final rites to the deceased.

The SLBFE will handle similar claims from families of the deceased workers, who had registered with the bureau before they left the shores of Sri Lanka, the official concluded.