To  All Sri Lankans in Kuwait

With a view to ensuring the security and safety interests of the Embassy compound, its staff and all visitors, a CCTV Network has come into operation from 20th July 2010. 

This new security system will not only provide 24-hour round-the-clock surveillance of the mission premises and its immediate surrounding, but would also help safeguard the welfare and well-being of inmates sheltered at the Embassy safe-houses.

All visitors to the Embassy are kindly requested to extend  their fullest support and cooperation for the smooth and effective operation of this new security feature for the benefit of all concerned. 

Any inconvenience caused is much regretted.

Embassy of Sri Lanka
Kuwait
July 20, 2010

The Chairman of the National Savings Bank ( NSB ), Mr. Pradeep Kariyawasam accompanied by the bank’s General Manager / CEO, Mr. H.M. Hennayake Bandara visited Kuwait from 8th – 11th July on a promotional mission aimed at introducing and promoting NSB banking sector products and services amongst the Sri Lankan community in Kuwait.  The Embassy facilitated the visit and assisted the delegation in their official programme in Kuwait.  

A poetry book entitled “Kataraka Pipi Mal”, a collection of poems written by  Mr. Prasanna Perera, an official of the Sri Lanka Embassy in Kuwait was launched during the “Sri Lanka Culture Week in Kuwait” as part of the Embassy initiatives for the promotion of Sri Lanka’s culture, arts and drama among the  Sri Lankan community and friends in Kuwait.   

The book “Kataraka Pipi Mal”, is comprised of over 100 pieces of poetry penned by Mr. Perera based on his experiences on the life stories of Sri Lankan migrant workers in Kuwait.  The tales that he has narrated in the poetry book depict a whole range of real as well as fiction stories of Sri Lankan migrant workers, who are at the mercy of their masters to earn a living for them and their families.  The book is a “must read” by Sri Lankans.

Ms Heba Al Mansoori,
Middle East Director of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau.

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau’s (SLTPB) Middle East office reported an enormous surge in the number of Bahraini travellers to Sri Lanka, as arrivals rose by an unprecedented 142% in the first six months of 2010 compared to the same period last year, according to statistics compiled by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. The total number of travellers from the Middle East region reflected a similar upsurge with arrivals increasing by 102% over the same period.

Published Date: July 15, 2010
By Ben Garcia, Staff Writer, The  Kuwait Times  

KUWAIT: She only dreamt of buying a new home for her mother. However, it remained just that - a dream. Instead of earning a cozy job, good salary and savings she fell into the clutches of a cruel and merciless employer for over 13 years without pay. Fifty seven year old Kamalawathie Katawala has been working for her sponsor since 1997. (Kuwait Times had reported yesterday that she worked for 17 years. However, the Colombo government's records show a 13 year time period). She landed a job in Kuwait befoe the Gulf War in 1990 - at first working for an Egyptian family. During the war, however, she ran away with her Egyptian sponsor to Jordan. At the peak of the war, she was told to go back with her family to Sri Lanka and wait there until the war is over. She did return to Sri Lanka, but the promise of Egyptian sponsor who would take her back to Kuwait, never materialized.

Struggling to accomplish her dream of buying a house, she embarked on another overseas challenge. She obtained a new visa for Kuwait job. This time, she ended up working for whom she calls 'merciless employers' in Jahra. Between stifled sobs, Kamala narrated her ordeal to the Kuwait Times through an interpreter as she could only communicate in Arabic and her native Sinhala language.