Record Remittances to Sri Lanka: Hidden Realities Behind the Headlines

Worker remittances to Sri Lanka have set a new all-time high record with USD 8.076 billion in 2025. This 22.8% growth, compared to the USD 6.6 billion received in 2024, is shaped by the high number of worker departures experienced in recent years.

While migrant workers’ contribution to easing pressure on the country’s balance of payments is widely appreciated, the hardships and sacrifices they endure are often overlooked. This blog highlights the challenges faced by migrant workers, drawing evidence from two recent studies by the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS).

Beyond the Numbers: The Real Costs and Benefits of Migration for Migrant Mothers

The female migration pattern in Sri Lanka has fluctuated notably over recent years. In 2018, considered a normal year before the economic crisis, women made up 38.6% (81,499) of total departures for foreign employment. However, in 2023, during the peak of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, their share increased to 44.7% (133,048).

Although women made up less than half of all migrant departures (44.7%) in 2023, they accounted for 80.3% of the total complaints (6,051 out of 7,535) received by the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), indicating that complaints are proportionally higher among female migrants. Among these, wage-related grievances stand out. Of particular concern is that in 2023 alone, the SLBFE documented 694 complaints about wage non-payment, over half of which were lodged by FMWs. But behind the statistics, personal struggles often go unnoticed, and these untold stories deserve to be heard.

Balancing Borders: How Should Sri Lanka Manage the Rohingya Influx?

While the bedrocks of migration in Sri Lanka – foreign employment and remittances – are settling, other aspects are unsettling in 2025. The year 2024 closed with estimates of over 311,000  departures for foreign employment and over USD 6.5 billion in remittances. In December 2024, 115 Rohingya people, including 78 adults and 25 children, were rescued while traveling on a multi-day trawler off the coast of Mullaitivu. The group was seeking asylum in Sri Lanka, and 12 men were identified as having facilitated the voyage.  Similarly, three batches of Sri Lankan migrants who were trafficked for forced criminal activities in cyber scamming compounds in East Asia were repatriated in 2024.  Many “were coerced into various cyber scamming activities under the pretext of legitimate job offers in the IT sector and other customer service roles”.

Voting Beyond Borders: Can Overseas Sri Lankans Finally Have Their Say?

The recent presidential election in Sri Lanka marked a series of “firsts,” setting it apart from previous elections. It saw a record-low number of 350,516 valid voters per candidate, implementation of the Regulation of Election Expenditure Act of 2023, and a second count of votes. Notably, there was also greater engagement from Overseas Sri Lankans (OSLs) in the country’s electoral process than at any time previously. However, despite this enthusiasm, the long-standing debate over granting OSLs the right to vote from abroad remains unresolved. Of the OSLs, it also means 1.5 million Sri Lankan workers abroad could not vote in the recent election according to the SLBFE.

Sri Lanka’s Female Migrant Workers: Flying Abroad on Borrowed Time

With the recent launch of the National Policy and Action Plan on Migration for Employment (2023-2027), it is timely to draw up a picture of Sri Lankan returnee female migrant workers and the socio-economic nuances that determine the ultimate decision-making of these women to migrate and/or reintegrate. This blog sheds light on the hidden struggles of such returnee female migrant workers to identify areas for potential policy actions, especially regarding economic reintegration, drawing on a recent IPS study investigating the skills, aspirations, and reintegration challenges of return migrant workers.