Overseas Workers Welfare Fund (OWWF)

The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) operates an Overseas Workers Welfare Fund (OWWF) as a form of social protection for workers abroad; it is compulsory for all overseas workers to register. It covers expenses for providing assistance to Sri Lankan migrant workers and their families as well as regulating recruitment agencies, managing complaints from migrant workers and offering training and orientation programmes. The OWWF includes a compulsory insurance scheme, the costs of migrant workers’ repatriation, scholarships for children and loan schemes with partner banks to cover pre-departure costs and self-employment start-up costs. OWWF also supports returnees who have been rendered disabled while being employed overseas.