Sri Lanka’s foreign affairs, foreign employment and tourism ministry said it launched LankaKonect as a complaint-management app for Sri Lankan migrant workers worldwide on June 15, widening a platform name already used for a UAE-focused service.
JAKARTA - Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism said it officially launched LankaKonect in Colombo on June 15 as a complaint-management application for Sri Lankan migrant workers overseas.
The ministry published the release on June 16 after an event tied to International Domestic Workers’ Day. Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Minister Vijitha Herath launched the app at the ceremony.
The ministry said the application was developed with the International Labour Organization and the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment, with technical support from Sri Lanka Telecom.
The app gives workers a central channel to submit complaints and assistance requests, monitor complaint progress, and access information and support services from any country of employment. It digitally connects complaint handling across SLBFE, the ministry’s Consular Affairs Division, and Sri Lankan missions and posts overseas.
The ministry said LankaKonect was “designed to strengthen protection, improve complaint management, and enhance access to support services for Sri Lankan migrant workers worldwide.”
The June launch does not appear to be the first use of the LankaKonect name. Sri Lanka’s embassy in Abu Dhabi introduced a LankaKonect mobile application in August 2025 for Sri Lankans in the UAE, offering access to consular, employment and welfare services, including online appointment scheduling.
The 2026 rollout gives the platform a wider complaint-management role. SLBFE already operates complaint channels through its head office, local branches, labour sections at Sri Lankan diplomatic missions, hotlines, email and an online portal.
Its website says the bureau’s web-based Complaint Management System supports authorised officers handling complaints through the Conciliation Division, overseas labour sections and related agencies.
The launch covers a large labour-migration system. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka, citing SLBFE data, recorded 310,915 departures for foreign employment in 2025. Workers’ remittances reached USD 8,076.2 million that year, up 22.8% from 2024.
Most Sri Lankan labour migration still runs through the Middle East, which accounted for 80.2% of foreign-employment departures in 2025. Asia outside South Asia and the Middle East accounted for 7.4%, South Asia for 3.8%, and Australia and New Zealand for 0.6%, according to central bank data.
The ministry said LankaKonect is available free through Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
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