Anoji Ekanayake

Biographic Data

ID5814743
NAMEAnoji Ekanayake
GIVEN NAMESAnoji
FAMILY NAMEEkanayake
SIGNATUREEKANAYAKE A
AFFILIATIONSUniversity of Colombo
ORCID0000-0001-6229-6888
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS8
TOTAL CITATIONS20
WORKS AS AUTHOR8
WORKS AS EDITOR0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2017
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2025
H-INDEX2

  • Remittance Utilisation of Returnee Sri Lankan Migrant Workers in the Skill Spectrum From the Gulf Region

    Open AccessAnoji EkanayakeARTICLEInternational Migration2025References: 1

    Since the Gulf region's economic boom in the mid‐1970s, the region has attracted Sri Lankan migrant workers of all skill levels. These workers accumulate savings that, if productively invested upon return, could support their reintegration and generate broader economic benefits. However, most studies on remittance use of Sri Lankan migrants have focused on returnee domestic workers and other workers at the lower end of the skill spectrum, overloo…

  • Drivers of return of Sri Lankan migrants in the skill spectrum from the Gulf region

    Open AccessAnoji EkanayakeARTICLEAsian and Pacific migration journal2024References: 13

    For Sri Lankan migrant workers in the Gulf region, returning home is an irrevocable aspect of their migration journeys as Gulf countries do not provide any pathways for permanent settlement. However, the circumstances surrounding their return vary from one migrant worker to another and depend on a range of interconnected and interdependent factors. This paper, based on a survey of 205 returnee migrant workers and in-depth interviews with 21 retur…

  • Gender and Forced Displacement in Humanitarian Policy Discourse

    Open AccessAnoji Ekanayake, Rajith Lakshman et al.ARTICLEJournal on Migration and Human…2023Cited by: 2References: 11

    Executive Summary This paper reports on a study that examines how gender has been referenced in United Nations (UN), supranational and state documents on forced migration over the past 40 years. It is motivated by the premise that humanitarian protection discourses reflect broader institutional priorities and ideologies and may therefore expose gaps that reveal the relative importance given to the category of gender. The evidence presented below …

  • Returning Home

    Open AccessAnoji Ekanayake, Kopalapillai AmirthalingamARTICLERefugee Survey Quarterly2023Cited by: 1

    Since the end of the civil war in 2009, Sri Lankan refugees in India have begun to return home slowly. This article examines the reintegration experiences of first-generation returnees vis-à-vis second-generation returnees who were either born in India or were small children at the time of migration and thus have limited memory of their lives in Sri Lanka before migration. Particular attention is given to challenges encountered, coping mechanisms…

  • Impact of migration of Sri Lankan professionals to Qatar on skill acquisition and brain drain

    Open AccessAnoji Ekanayake, Kopalapillai AmirthalingamARTICLEMigration and Development2022

    Since the boom in the economies of Gulf countries in the mid-1970s, the region has gradually become an appealing destination for professional migrants. In the Gulf, professionals gain skills and knowledge which could be beneficial for their home countries. However, the majority of studies on professional migrants have only focused on those who migrate to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. This study on Sri La…

  • An empirical study of the factors that motivate Sri Lankan professionals to migrate to Qatar

    Open AccessAnoji Ekanayake, Anoji Punchikumari Ekanayake et al.ARTICLEMigration and Development2021

    Traditionally, countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have been the most preferred destination for professional migrants from Sri Lanka. However, with the boom in the petroleum industry of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in the 1970s, the Gulf has increasingly become an appealing destination for Sri Lankan professional migrants. Among Gulf countries, Qatar is the most common destination. A comb…

  • The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Sri Lankan migrants in Qatar

    Open AccessAnoji Ekanayake, Kopalapillai AmirthalingamARTICLEComparative Migration Studies2021Cited by: 9References: 1

    The spread of Covid-19 in Qatar and the pandemic-led economic slump in the country have substantial financial implications for Sri Lankan migrant workers in Qatar and the Sri Lankan economy as a whole, as Qatar has been one of the primary destinations among Sri Lankan migrants in recent years. Based on 12 in-depth interviews and an online survey of 101 Sri Lankan workers in Qatar, this paper assesses the pandemic’s financial implications on three…

  • Urban Resettlement in Colombo from a Wellbeing Perspective

    Dhammika Herath, Rajith Lakshman et al.ARTICLEJournal of Refugee Studies2017Cited by: 8References: 6

    For almost a decade, Colombo has been the site of a massive urban regeneration programme driven by the public and the private sectors. One of the main components of this regeneration programme has been the involuntary acquisition of land from slum communities and subsequent resettlement of slum dwellers in multi-storied housing complexes. How does such rapid resettlement in high-rise apartments impact the slum dwellers who are subjected to such t…