MUSCAT: Sri Lanka Embassy in Oman in collaboration with the President Secretariat and the Foreign Ministry of Sri Lanka, made special arrangements for the repatriation of 568 stranded Sri Lankan migrant workers from Muscat to Colombo by Sri Lankan airlines in two batches on 14 and 15 of January 2021. This includes more than 300 stranded Sri Lankan migrant workers who overstayed in the Sultanate of Oman after their expiry of visas. The Government of Oman granted an amnesty for these destitute migrant workers to leave Oman for Sri Lanka with the full waiver of their penalties and fines. The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Muscat provided them with necessary travel documents free of charge to return back home. Others included Sri Lankan migrant workers who lost their jobs, released from prisons and who were under medical emergencies.

Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Sultanate of Oman Ameer Ajwad extended his sincere gratitude to the Government of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik for the generous gesture extended to the destitute Sri Lankan migrant workers for their return back home.

The Government of Sri Lanka will arrange free PCR tests for all 568 destitute Sri Lankan migrant workers on their arrival at the BIA and provide quarantine facilities for all of them with accommodation, food and other facilities free of charge for 14 days at a Quarantine Center maintained by the Government.