Sri Lanka: Protect Garment Workers’ Rights During Pandemic
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Compromised Safety, Pay Cuts, Representatives Threatened
(New York) – The Sri Lankan government, factory owners, and the international clothes brands sourcing from Sri Lanka should protect the safety and employment rights of garment workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, Human Rights Watch said today.
The Sri Lankan government has used a strict lockdown, first imposed on May 21, 2021, and other measures, including travel bans and bans on public gatherings, to contain a fresh wave of Covid-19 cases. However, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa ordered garment factories to remain open. Trade unions and public health inspectors have reported numerous virus outbreaks in factories, as well as in the congested boarding houses where many workers live, and alleged that employers were under-testing and under-reporting cases to maintain production levels.
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By Shamindra Ferdinando
Genuine post-war national reconciliation will not be possible unless grievances of those who had suffered during the war and after were addressed, Harsha Kumara Navaratne, a member of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) says.
Emphasizing the responsibility on the part of the government as regards concerns of all communities, Navaratne asserted that the alleged disappearances of persons who had been handed over to the military by their families soon after the war was brought to a conclusion remained a contentious issue.
Prominent civil society activist Navaratne said so during a brief discussion with
The Island on Tuesday (6) at the HRCSL, R.A. de Mel Mawatha, Colombo 4. Except the Chairman of the HRCSL Dr. Jagath Balasuriya, a former lawmaker, other members of the five-member outfit namely Dr. M.H. Nimal Karunasiri, Dr. Vijitha Nanayakkara and Ms. Anusuya Shanmuganathan, joined the discussion.