ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ PRESS RELEASE BY THE SRI LANKAN EMBASSY INƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  UAE

It is with great pleasure that the Embassy of UAE announces the pardon given to Mrs. Abdul Careem Kanzul Maharifa who was accused of causing the death to a sponsorƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s wife by repeatedly hitting her head and face with an ornamental pot and Sharia Court issued Capital punishment in 2006 on her.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ She was arrested on 30^th April 2006.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The case was appealed subsequently, but her acquittal was challenged by the public prosecution.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Embassy and the External Affairs Ministry in Sri Lanka have been continuously working on this matter since the alleged incident and at last there is good news that the request for clemency has been granted and she is out of the said death sentence.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  She is free and she was sent to Sri Lanka on 31^st July 2011.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Enclosed herewith a photocopy and copies of relevant paper articles with heading ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Mother of six sentenced to deathƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This is one of the rare cases of the Sri Lankan Embassy in the UAE worked tirelessly and continuously for the freedom of this lady to the credit of the staff and the previous Ambassadors and especially the Consular Division of the Ministry of External Affairs of Sri Lanka .

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Ambassador Sarath Wijesinghe after assumption of duties personally took charge of the case and made representation to various statutory bodies with the help of the Embassy staff.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  There are lot more cases pending on capital punishment and other offences.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  There are over 250,000 employees in the UAE which remits large sums of moneyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  to Sri Lanka making remittances the main income of the nation.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The crime rate of the Sri Lankans are very low when compared to the other ethnic groups.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It is inevitable that these incidents do take place when people work in difficult conditions.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  There are problems confronted by the employees on various reasons mainly discrepancies caused by errant job agents which causes riftsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  between the employers, sponsors and the workers.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The SLBFE has taken steps to regularize and harmonize the agreements and to bring about speedy settlements for the workforce in the UAE.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The workforce of the UAE is highly skilled and respected in the highest esteem.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  A large portion is professionals and even those who are in the domestic sector have a good reputation as hardworking.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  In the hospitality trade there are large number of employees in leading hotels.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Steps are being taken by the Embassy, Tourist Board , SLBFE with public/private partnerships to recruit and train more and more staff for hotels in the UAE with training facilities for youngsters in short term which will benefit both countries, employers and the work force in the hospitality trade.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Hemantha Kahawalage

Labour Welfare Officer