July 29, Colombo: Sri Lanka is considering to implement rules to blacklist migrant workers who have been convicted of crimes or flouted labor laws in Oman.

The Sri Lankan Ambassador to Oman Asoka Girihagama has said that the government of Sri Lanka is planning to implement the rule by September 2012, the Times of Oman reported.

"With the proposed blacklisting, these workers would be prohibited from obtaining foreign employment in Oman and thereby they could minimize the number of issues surfacing in those countries relating to migrant workers," the Ambassador has said.

Most of the convicted workers had been found guilty of overstaying after their visas had expired or working for people other than sponsors. Some of them have escaped from households or engaged in prostitution and other crimes, while others have broken Oman's labor laws.

The Ambassador's disclosure comes a day after the Sri Lankan Embassy blacklisted nine Omani companies and suspended operations for another 14 companies, all based in Oman, for flouting Oman's labor laws.

Reportedly incidents of housemaids fleeing from their employers had become a routine and the Embassy handles a large number of such incidents.

Over 6,000 Sri Lankan workers were employed in Oman in 2010 and about half of them were housemaids.