COLOMBO: The newly launched Sinhalese version of Arab News is making global and regional developments more accessible to Sri Lankan migrant workers in the Middle East, their representatives say, as for many, language has until now been the main barrier to obtaining news.
The Sinhalese are the largest ethno-linguistic group in Sri Lanka, constituting about 75 percent of the multi-ethnic island nation’s population.
Arab News launched its Sinhalese version as part of the artificial intelligence-powered feature it introduced in 2025 to allow readers to translate articles into 50 languages.
The launch was officiated in Riyadh on July 5, 2026, by Sri Lanka’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ameer Ajwad, who said it made the region’s “leading English-language newspaper more accessible to a large number of Sinhalese-speaking Sri Lankan migrant workers in the Kingdom who are not proficient enough in English.”
Some 1.2 million Sri Lankan workers are employed in the Middle East, mostly in the six GCC countries.
