Jordan Police use tear gas on Sri Lankan migrant workers’ protest

Jordanian Police have used tear gas to control an unrest created by a group of Sri Lankan migrant workers who have lost their employment due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Reportedly, a group of Sri Lankans working in an industrial area in Alacara, Jordan has launched a protest against a group of officials from the Sri Lankan Embassy visiting the area to look into the reports that Sri Lankan migrant workers have lost their employment during the past 05 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly, 340 Sri Lankan workers working in a garment factory have created unrest in the area resulting in the Jordan security forces intervening with tear gas, stated Mangala Randeniya, Media Spokesperson, Deputy General Manager of Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment.

He pointed out that the manufacturing process of factories have completely halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in job cuts.

The officials of the Embassy had visited the area to provide them with the necessary facilities when a disagreement had escalated into a tumultuous situation, Randeniya said. The Embassy officials, too, were inconvenienced from the incident, he added.

However, the matter has now been settled, he further said.