HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF SRI LANKA, Annual Report 2020 amenities to survive, despite the promise made by the Government to repatriate them in early November. Further, many of them have either had their visas canceled or expired, thereby converting them into illegal immigrants. Reiterating the state’s obligation to guarantee the right of migrant workers and their families to return to their state of origin in terms of the Constitution, and various international treaties which Sri Lanka has ratified, the Commission urged the Government to take immediate action to secure the safe repatriation of the migrants and their families stranded overseas in fulfillment of Sri Lanka’s national and international human rights obligations. Drawing attention to the importance of migrant remittances to the economy, the Commission observed that their services to the economy and country cannot be ignored and they deserve the strongest support in their hour of need.  Recommendations on the disposal of dead bodies in the context of COVID-19 The Commission forwarded its observations and recommendations on the disposal of dead bodies in the context of COVID-19 to the Secretary to the Ministry of Health and the Director General of Health Services on 25 November 2020. These observations and recommendations were issued pursuant to the Commission receiving complaints and expressions of concern from persons of various religious groups including Muslims, Christians, and Buddhists on their inability to perform final religious rites after the death of persons in the context of COVID-19. The recommendations stated that the performance of final religious rites such as those performed at burial ceremonies is a form of manifestation of religion or beliefs and cannot be restricted except according to Constitutional and international human rights obligations. The mandatory requirement for cremation imposed under Extraordinary Gazette No.2170/8 dated 11 April 2020 was thus identified as an invalid restriction of the freedom to manifest religion or belief. It inter alia recommended that burials as well as cremations of bodies of persons who succumb to the COVID-19 virus must be permitted while adhering to required health guidelines. 33