member of parliament and president of the Ethera Api Association
Speaking via skype to the initial meeting that organised by a group of Sri Lankan who want to establish a Ethera Api branch in UK, held on 24th september 2016 at Wellfarm Sport Centre in London. He further said that any Sri Lankan can join to the Ethera Api association and there will be no reference to party, race or colour difference. Therefore any Sri Lankan expatriates , can join with the Ethera Api Association and this association is the only association for the every sri Lankan expatriates. What make this association more special and unique. This would be the association that, not only to find the solutions and the answers for the difficulties and to the problems in each counties that are sri Lankan facing, within their own domain but also, this is only the organisation raising the awareness on those matters inside the sri lanka and trying to find the solutions for them. He state that he was very happy to see UK also started the Ethera Api branch.
There are no accurate statistics about the sri lankan expatriates, but roughly estimated two point five million would be the number. Base on that figure one eighth (8/1) of the sri Lankan population are living in overseas. Roughly estimated point five million (0.5) of Sri Lankan would be living in United Kingdom.
All the time the Sri Lankan expatriates by sending money to Sri Lanka, they are maintaining their family and friends. Nevertheless they are contributing to the county’s economy by adding foreign currency. Since 1970 up to now county’s first income is foreign currency sending by overseas employment. It is estimated that one third (3/1) of the country’s income providing by sri lankan who took the foreign employments.
Ever since the county’s governments using those money for their functions and westing and misusing them as much as they can, they never thought about those expatriates welfare, never implemented any national programme safeguards those people’s well being. The Sri Lankan Government use them as their cash machine, which prodused foreign currency for them. The government never have been contemplated to provide basic human rights and, dsic civil rights for this people and give very deserve recognition, respects and adequate treatments who are contributing massively to the country’s economy. This is all the Sri Lankan government’s attitude ever since to the sri Lankan expatriates . This situation must be change decisively as soon as possible. In order to do that, Sri Lankan who living in so many foreign countries have established pioneering organisation which is “Ethera Api Association” and also you have started in the United Kingdom as well.
Even now we have gain some winning, we have been able to win a one day parliament debate on matters around the overseas works and Sri Lankan who living abroads. We have initiated national debate on the matters relating to same subject in order to raise national awareness, we are drafting a parliament act for address to the matters concerning overseas residents and workers Etc. to achieve basic goals of Ergeta Api Association, we may have to go through long and difficult struggle, but we know we will win and are optimistic.
Participate to this occasion there were large number of the UK residence have come from various aria in the UK. Addressing the meeting newly elected the UK branch president, Mr Ajantha Kangaharachchi said, that rather than trying to find solutions individually to the problems for people who are living in oversea including United Kingdom, now we all can make a collective measures to find solutions for our problems. That effort would be guarantee winning. He alao invited to every Sri Lankan who are living in the United Kingdom to set aside all the petty difference and join with Ethera Api Association to win the common goal for all of us.