Keep Us Strong WikiLeaks logo

Currently released so far... 97115 / 251,287

Articles

Browse latest releases

Browse by creation date

Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ETRD EAGR ETTC EAID ECON EFIN ECIN EINV ELAB EAIR ENRG EPET EWWT ECPS EIND EMIN ELTN EC ETMIN EUC EZ ET ELECTIONS ENVR EU EUN EG EINT ER ECONOMICS ES EMS ENIV EEB EN ECE ECOSOC EK ENVIRONMENT EFIS EI EWT ENGRD ECPSN EXIM EIAD ERIN ECPC EDEV ENGY ECTRD EPA ESTH ECCT EINVECON ENGR ERTD EUR EAP EWWC ELTD EL EXIMOPIC EXTERNAL ETRDEC ESCAP ECO EGAD ELNT ECONOMIC ENV ETRN EIAR EUMEM ENRGPARMOTRASENVKGHGPGOVECONTSPLEAID EREL ECOM ECONETRDEAGRJA ETCC ETRG ECONOMY EMED ETR ENERG EITC EFINOECD EURM EENG ERA EXPORT ENRD ECONEINVETRDEFINELABETRDKTDBPGOVOPIC EGEN EBRD EVIN ETRAD ECOWAS EFTA ECONETRDBESPAR EGOVSY EPIN EID ECONENRG EDRC ESENV ETT EB ENER ELTNSNAR ECHEVARRIA ETRC EPIT EDUC ESA EFI ENRGY ESCI EE EAIDXMXAXBXFFR EETC ECIP EIAID EIVN EBEXP ESTN EING EGOV ETRA EPETEIND ELAN ETRDGK EAIDRW ETRDEINVECINPGOVCS EPEC ENVI ELN EAG EPCS EPRT EPTED ETRB EUM EAIDS EFIC EFINECONEAIDUNGAGM EAIDAR ESF EIDN ELAM EDU EV EAIDAF ECN EDA EXBS EINTECPS ENRGTRGYETRDBEXPBTIOSZ EPREL EAC EINVEFIN ETA EAGER EINDIR ECA ECLAC ELAP EITI EUCOM ECONEFINETRDPGOVEAGRPTERKTFNKCRMEAID EARG ELDIN EINVKSCA ENNP EFINECONCS EFINTS ECCP ETC EAIRASECCASCID EINN ETRP EAIDNI EFQ ECOQKPKO EGPHUM EBUD ECONEINVEFINPGOVIZ ENERGY ELB EINDETRD EMI ECONEFIN EIB EURN ETRDEINVTINTCS EIN EFIM ETIO ELAINE EMN EATO EWTR EIPR EINVETC ETTD ETDR EIQ ECONCS EPPD ENRGIZ EISL ESPINOSA ELEC EAIG ESLCO EUREM ENTG ERD EINVECONSENVCSJA EEPET EUNCH ECINECONCS ETRO ETRDECONWTOCS ECUN EFND EPECO EAIRECONRP ERGR ETRDPGOV ECPN ENRGMO EPWR EET EAIS EAGRE EDUARDO EAGRRP EAIDPHUMPRELUG EICN ECONQH EVN EGHG ELBR EINF EAIDHO EENV ETEX ERNG ED
KMDR KPAO KPKO KJUS KCRM KGHG KFRD KWMN KDEM KTFN KHIV KGIC KIDE KSCA KNNP KHUM KIPR KSUM KISL KIRF KCOR KRCM KPAL KWBG KN KS KOMC KSEP KFLU KPWR KTIA KSEO KMPI KHLS KICC KSTH KMCA KVPR KPRM KE KU KZ KFLO KSAF KTIP KTEX KBCT KOCI KOLY KOR KAWC KACT KUNR KTDB KSTC KLIG KSKN KNN KCFE KCIP KGHA KHDP KPOW KUNC KDRL KV KPREL KCRS KPOL KRVC KRIM KGIT KWIR KT KIRC KOMO KRFD KUWAIT KG KFIN KSCI KTFIN KFTN KGOV KPRV KSAC KGIV KCRIM KPIR KSOC KBIO KW KGLB KMWN KPO KFSC KSEAO KSTCPL KSI KPRP KREC KFPC KUNH KCSA KMRS KNDP KR KICCPUR KPPAO KCSY KTBT KCIS KNEP KFRDCVISCMGTCASCKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KNNB KGCC KINR KPOP KMFO KENV KNAR KVIR KDRG KDMR KFCE KNAO KDEN KGCN KICA KIMMITT KMCC KLFU KMSG KSEC KUM KCUL KMNP KSMT KCOM KOMCSG KSPR KPMI KRAD KIND KCRP KAUST KWAWC KTER KCHG KRDP KPAS KITA KTSC KPAOPREL KWGB KIRP KJUST KMIG KLAB KTFR KSEI KSTT KAPO KSTS KLSO KWNN KPOA KHSA KNPP KPAONZ KBTS KWWW KY KJRE KPAOKMDRKE KCRCM KSCS KWMNCI KESO KWUN KPLS KIIP KEDEM KPAOY KRIF KGICKS KREF KTRD KFRDSOCIRO KTAO KJU KWMNPHUMPRELKPAOZW KEN KO KNEI KEMR KKIV KEAI KWAC KRCIM KWCI KFIU KWIC KCORR KOMS KNNO KPAI KBWG KTTB KTBD KTIALG KILS KFEM KTDM KESS KNUC KPA KOMCCO KCEM KRCS KWBGSY KNPPIS KNNPMNUC KWN KERG KLTN KALM KCCP KSUMPHUM KREL KGH KLIP KTLA KAWK KWMM KVRP KVRC KAID KSLG KDEMK KX KIF KNPR KCFC KFTFN KTFM KPDD KCERS KMOC KDEMAF KMEPI KEMS KDRM KEPREL KBTR KEDU KNP KIRL KNNR KMPT KISLPINR KTPN KA KJUSTH KPIN KDEV KTDD KAKA KFRP KWNM KTSD KINL KJUSKUNR KWWMN KECF KWBC KPRO KVBL KOM KFRDKIRFCVISCMGTKOCIASECPHUMSMIGEG KEDM KFLD KLPM KRGY KNNF KICR KIFR KM KWMNCS KAWS KLAP KPAK KDDG KCGC KID KNSD KMPF KPFO KDP KCMR KRMS KNPT KNNNP KTIAPARM KDTB KNUP KPGOV KNAP KNNC KUK KSRE KREISLER KIVP KQ KTIAEUN KPALAOIS KRM KISLAO KWM KFLOA
PHUM PINR PTER PGOV PREL PREF PL PM PHSA PE PARM PINS PK PUNE PO PALESTINIAN PU PBTS PROP PTBS POL POLI PA PGOVZI POLMIL POLITICAL PARTIES POLM PD POLITICS POLICY PAS PMIL PINT PNAT PV PKO PPOL PERSONS PING PBIO PH PETR PARMS PRES PCON PETERS PRELBR PT PLAB PP PAK PDEM PKPA PSOCI PF PLO PTERM PJUS PSOE PELOSI PROPERTY PGOVPREL PARP PRL PNIR PHUMKPAL PG PREZ PGIC PBOV PAO PKK PROV PHSAK PHUMPREL PROTECTION PGOVBL PSI PRELPK PGOVENRG PUM PRELKPKO PATTY PSOC PRIVATIZATION PRELSP PGOVEAIDUKNOSWGMHUCANLLHFRSPITNZ PMIG PREC PAIGH PROG PSHA PARK PETER POG PHUS PPREL PS PTERPREL PRELPGOV POV PKPO PGOVECON POUS PGOVPRELPHUMPREFSMIGELABEAIDKCRMKWMN PWBG PMAR PREM PAR PNR PRELPGOVEAIDECONEINVBEXPSCULOIIPBTIO PARMIR PGOVGM PHUH PARTM PN PRE PTE PY POLUN PPEL PDOV PGOVSOCI PIRF PGOVPM PBST PRELEVU PGOR PBTSRU PRM PRELKPAOIZ PGVO PERL PGOC PAGR PMIN PHUMR PVIP PPD PGV PRAM PINL PKPAL PTERE PGOF PINO PHAS PODC PRHUM PHUMA PREO PPA PEPFAR PGO PRGOV PAC PRESL PORG PKFK PEPR PRELP PREFA PNG PGOVPHUMKPAO PRELECON PINOCHET PFOR PGOVLO PHUMBA PRELC PREK PHUME PHJM POLINT PGOVPZ PGOVKCRM PGOVE PHALANAGE PARTY PECON PEACE PROCESS PLN PRELSW PAHO PEDRO PRELA PASS PPAO PGPV PNUM PCUL PGGV PSA PGOVSMIGKCRMKWMNPHUMCVISKFRDCA PGIV PRFE POGOV PEL PBT PAMQ PINF PSEPC POSTS PHUMPGOV PVOV PHSAPREL PROLIFERATION PENA PRELTBIOBA PIN PRELL PGOVPTER PHAM PHYTRP PTEL PTERPGOV PHARM PROTESTS PRELAF PKBL PRELKPAO PKNP PARMP PHUML PFOV PERM PUOS PRELGOV PHUMPTER PARAGRAPH PERURENA PBTSEWWT PCI PETROL PINSO PINSCE PQL PEREZ PBS

Browse by classification

Community resources

courage is contagious

Viewing cable 07COLOMBO1352, SRI LANKA: CONFLICT CONTRIBUTES TO BRAIN DRAIN

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs

Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:
  • The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
  • The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
  • The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.
To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.

Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #07COLOMBO1352.
Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07COLOMBO1352 2007-10-02 05:31 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Colombo
VZCZCXRO3898
RR RUEHLMC
DE RUEHLM #1352/01 2750531
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 020531Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6901
INFO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1414
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0436
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 7423
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 5561
RUEHKL/AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR 0331
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4049
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0972
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0017
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 1205
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 0281
RUEHKU/AMEMBASSY KUWAIT 0468
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0443
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 2242
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 8017
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001352 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS USTR FOR ADINA ADLER 
COMMERCE FOR JONATHAN STONE 
TREASURY FOR LESLIE HULL 
MCC FOR S. GROFF, D. TETER, D. NASSIRY AND E. BURKE 
 
E.O 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD ELAB KMCA CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: CONFLICT CONTRIBUTES TO BRAIN DRAIN 
 
REF: A. COLOMBO 625  B. COLOMBO 861 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY: Professionals and business people are steadily 
migrating out of Sri Lanka in pursuit of better living conditions 
and a more stable business environment.  Many are Tamils and Muslims 
fleeing the conflict and persistent harassment.  The "brain drain" 
is depleting a local talent pool already limited by insufficient 
university training positions in high-demand fields like software 
engineering, finance, and nursing.  The loss of human capital will 
impede Sri Lanka's economic development goals and erode its regional 
and global competitiveness, especially as the country seeks to 
become a regional information technology and outsourcing hub.  End 
Summary. 
 
2. (U) Traditionally, unskilled migrant workers have been one of Sri 
Lanka's most valuable exports, as their remittances provide the 
country's second largest source of foreign exchange after garment 
exports (ref A).  In recent years, growing numbers of Sri Lankan 
professionals have also been leaving the country seeking better 
career prospects, higher pay, greater physical security, improved 
prospects for their families.  Armed with proficient English, 
academic qualifications and information technology (IT) skills, 
these well-educated Sri Lankans are competitive in the global market 
for talent.  Unlike most unskilled laborers, however, many 
professionals are permanently settling abroad and do not send 
significant remittances back to Sri Lanka.  Further, the shrinking 
talent pool is a serious impediment to the growth plans of some of 
Sri Lanka's most dynamic firms.  Though local business leaders do 
not believe the current migration trend has become a critical 
problem, they are pushing for the government and training 
institutions to seriously address the issue now. 
 
PROFESSIONAL MIGRATION IS BIG, BUT HARD TO COUNT 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
3. (U) Estimates vary on the number of professionals leaving the 
country.  According to the Sri Lanka Bureau for Foreign Employment 
(BFE), there are 1.4 million Sri Lankan citizens, or an eighth of 
the country's labor force, legally working abroad.  In 2006, the 
World Bank estimated that more than one million additional Sri 
Lankan professionals were permanently established abroad.  The 
latter figure is harder to confirm, as professionals, unlike 
laborers, do not have to register with the BFE when they move 
overseas. 
 
4. (U) The Bureau stated that in 2006, 486 engineers, 483 
accountants, and 73 nurses departed Sri Lanka for work abroad -- all 
figures slightly higher than in 2005.  These statistics, however, 
reflect only the number of employment contracts handled by foreign 
recruitment agencies registered to the BFE, and therefore 
underestimate the actual number of departing professionals.  The 
primary destination markets for Sri Lankan professionals are the 
Gulf and the Middle East -- Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and United Arab 
Emirates; and the English-speaking industrialized countries -- the 
United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New 
Zealand.  The extent of Sri Lankan professional migration to these 
countries is illustrated in one sector by figures reported by Sri 
Lanka's Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA):  In 
Sri Lanka, there are 1,800 CIMA members and 11,000 CIMA candidates. 
Abroad, there are 3,900 Sri Lankan CIMA members and candidates, of 
which 1,465 are in the U.K., 676 in Australia, 277 in Canada, 171 in 
the United Arab Emirates and 96 in the United States. 
 
CONFLICT FUELING MIGRATION OF TAMIL PROFESSIONALS 
AND BUSINESS PEOPLE 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
COLOMBO 00001352  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
5. (U) Veteran business leaders in Sri Lanka say that the brain 
drain is not a new phenomenon, as migration waves have historically 
correlated with Sri Lanka's separatist conflict, starting in 1983 
and picking up most recently since 2005.  For Tamil and Muslim 
professionals especially, the conflict has made daily life difficult 
and has signaled to many that educational and career prospects for 
themselves and their families are unreliable.  The President of 
local software company hSenid told Econoff that, of the ten percent 
of workers who have left the company in the past year, approximately 
75 to 80 percent were Tamils. 
 
6. (U) Similarly, the conflict has indirectly caused many Tamil and 
Muslim traders and other entrepreneurs to depart.  Numerous Tamil 
business owners in the north and the east have fled to India to 
escape fighting, local persecution, and general insecurity.  This 
trend has spread to Colombo as well.  Embassy has heard in recent 
months from Colombo-based Tamil and Muslim owners of trading, 
wholesale, and retail businesses that many of their peers are moving 
to India, Singapore, and Malaysia, in search of greater security and 
stability.  First Tamil, and later, Muslim business people have been 
the target of criminal abduction-for-ransom rings (ref B).  Some 
Tamil business owners report experiencing official harassment, such 
as by customs officials who impose extortionate fines in response to 
minor mistakes in customs paperwork.  Malaysia in particular has 
become an attractive destination for Tamil business relocations, 
because it offers long term (though not permanent) legal residence 
status for people who can deposit 300,000 ringgit (about $88,000). 
 
MID-CAREER PROFESSIONALS: SOME SEEK IMPROVED 
OPPORTUNITIES, OTHERS SECURITY 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
7. (U) For large Sri Lankan businesses the brain drain is a problem 
at both the mid-career and entry level.  In a recent local newspaper 
poll, 60 percent of senior human resources managers interviewed were 
worried about company-wide talent shortages; 75 percent of the same 
managers said that attracting and retaining key talent was one of 
their top three priorities.  Company leaders interviewed in local 
business journal Lanka Monthly Digest stated that "uncertainty" was 
a major factor causing their mid-level professionals to seek work 
abroad.  They also cited lack of security, lack of educational 
prospects for children, and overall political instability as drivers 
of the brain drain.  They added that higher pay and greater upward 
mobility abroad also act as a draw to those worried about security. 
 
UNIVERSITY GRADS: MISMATCHED DEGREE FIELDS 
AND HIRING NEEDS ADD TO BRAIN DRAIN 
------------------------------------------ 
 
8. (U) The state university system is also a major contributor to 
the brain drain.  The universities' poor academic quality in many 
fields and insufficient spaces in hot fields like information 
technology are inducing prospective students to study abroad.  This 
means that local firms in growing fields like software design and 
business process have more job slots available than qualified 
graduates to hire.  According to the Sri Lanka Information and 
Communication Technology Association (SLICTA), the local IT industry 
has an annual demand for over 7,000 workers, but has only been able 
to hire 2,000 plus this year.  This shortage will impede Sri Lanka 
from reaching its potential as an IT industry and 
business-processing outsourcing hub. 
 
9. (U) Outside hot sectors like IT, the problem is reversed: the 
universities are producing graduates in fields that are not hiring. 
A local newspaper study reported that Sri Lankan universities 
 
COLOMBO 00001352  003 OF 003 
 
 
annually produce over 3,000 science and technology related 
graduates, but that only 7 percent of these find substantive work in 
their specialties in Sri Lanka.  As a result, many emigrate.  The 
departure of such university grads represents not only a depletion 
of human capital, but also a loss of state investment, as the 
country loses the opportunity to gain from its educational 
investment. 
 
RESPONSES TO THE BRAIN DRAIN 
---------------------------- 
 
10. (U) Reinforcing the evidence that the brain drain is not solely 
a financial issue, businesses are finding that a higher salary alone 
is not enough of an incentive to keep professionals in place.  The 
Sri Lanka Information and Communication Technology Association 
(SLICTA) reported that current retention rates of IT employees are 
generally between two to three years.  HSenid, trying to avoid 
losing employees entirely, encourages their movement to hSenid 
offices in other countries.  Similarly, HSBC bank's Sri Lanka CEO 
told Econoff that he finds himself helping his employees transfer to 
other HSBC offices abroad in the slim hope that they will eventually 
return to work for HSBC in Sri Lanka. 
 
11. (U) The private sector is also encouraging the government to 
create incentives to attract educated Sri Lankans overseas back to 
Sri Lanka.  They have urged the government to emulate India's "brain 
gain" strategy, which includes tax and other financial incentives 
for those who return.  Businesses realize that attracting talent 
back to Sri Lanka has a great upside in terms of knowledge transfer 
from returning migrants. 
 
12. (U) COMMENT: Sri Lanka's brain drain is another damaging 
economic and social consequence of its long ethnic conflict.  With 
skilled professionals and talented students departing, Sri Lanka is 
losing the human capital it most needs to compete in a globalized, 
information intensive economy.  Simply riding the wake of India's 
growth in information technology and business process outsourcing 
could provide enormous growth potential for Sri Lanka, but the brain 
drain is a serious impediment to that prospect. 
The government has in recent years worked hard to promote outward 
migration of unskilled labor and has recently begun to talk of 
promoting migration of skilled labor as well.  While these measures 
may appear attractive in the short run because of the remittances 
they yield, the government fails to take account that professional 
Sri Lankans overseas are contributing to other countries' GDPs, and 
that only a fraction of their earnings comes back as remittances. 
For these reasons, the government should start to develop longer 
term plans for retaining and attracting back educated Sri Lankans 
who are essential to the country's long term competitiveness. 
BLAKE