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LABOUR-UAE: Worker Friendly Laws Make a Difference

Meena Janardhan

DUBAI, Jan 11 2007 (IPS) - Faced with criticism by international rights organisations, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has introduced a series of measures that are beginning to transform the oil-rich country’s labour climate.

Stricter laws against human trafficking and blue-collar worker-friendly regulations are now in place in the UAE that is heavily dependent on expatriate labour and skills.

A memorandum of understanding signed between the governments of India and the UAE in December has already resulted in a ‘‘significant” reduction in labour complaints, according to the Indian consulate in Dubai.

India is a major supplier of skilled and unskilled labour to the UAE and last year there were 1.2 million Indian nationals resident in the country with an overall population of 4.5 million people. The December agreement established a central agency for supplying workers, bypassing the role of recruiting agents who often add to the woes of labourers.

A similar agreement has been signed with Pakistan, a country which has 300,000 of its nationals in the UAE. South Asians form 57 percent of the population, making them the single largest expatriate group.

The working and living conditions of construction and other blue-collar workers are currently under review. In November, Dubai – one of the seven emirates in the UAE – issued instructions to the labour ministry to set up a special labour court to resolve disputes, increase the number of government inspectors, provide health insurance, and develop mechanisms for the collection of unpaid wages.

Sociologist Rima Sabban says that there is an urgent need to address the problems of blue-collar workers. ‘’By taking some concrete steps, the government has brought transparency into the system and put an end to criticism that has nothing to do with the culture of this land or region. These workers – whether in the construction or domestic sectors – are essential for our country’s development.”

In December, Dubai shut down more than 100 camps housing construction workers which fell short of minimum standards in health services, waste disposal, pest control, drinking water and other basic facilities. The firms that owned or ran the camps have been asked to provide alternate accommodation that meets international health and safety standards.

The labour ministry has announced a new mechanism for quick settlement of labour cases, under which it will have the power to summon the employer and provide the courts with all relevant documents. The new approach aims to support the worker till the problem is settled and seeks the employer’s assistance to the court in case of unsettled litigation. The ministry will be authorised to stop dealing with the employer, deny visas, and pay workers’ entitlements from the employer’s bank deposits, following the court’s approval.

‘‘We are really happy that the authorities are taking note of our plight and instituting measures. This gives us hope, but much more needs to be done, and it will be some time before we really benefit,” Murugesh Kumar, an Indian construction worker, told IPS.

Going a step further, the government announced a new law against human trafficking in November which provides penalties as severe as life imprisonment.

Hefty fines of up to one million dirhams (272,000 US dollars) will be imposed on companies and institutions involved in human trafficking, with the firms also facing the risk of being temporarily or permanently shut down.

‘‘We must take into consideration the speed with which the reforms are being introduced. Given that Western countries took ages to introduce human rights measures, the changes in the UAE are coming real fast, because the government realises its importance,” Sabban told IPS.

Apart from criticism by international organisations, the UAE government was also forced to act after labour rights became an issue in talks leading to free trade agreements with the United States and the European Union.

A report by the Human Rights Watch, ‘Building Towers, Cheating Workers: Exploitation of Migrant Construction Workers in the United Arab Emirates,’ released in November, listed abuses among the estimated 500,000 construction workers, including unpaid or extremely low wages, several years of indebtedness to recruitment agencies and hazardous working conditions that result in high rates of death and injury.

Despite some proactive efforts, said Sabban, ‘‘it is annoying that human rights organisations club all the countries in the region together and do not pay attention to efforts by individual countries. You have to take the culture and ground realities of a country into consideration and not apply western stereotypes or approach us with preconceived notions.”

One of the noteworthy accomplishments during the last two years has been the total ban on child camel jockeys. Last year, the UAE started a programme in conjunction with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to compensate and repatriate young jockeys to their home countries, primarily Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sudan and Mauritania. It has also set aside about 29 million dirhams (eight million dollars) for the rehabilitation of these children.

According to an official statement, these funds will ‘‘assure that all underage jockeys who were employed in the UAE receive salaries and severance compensation. The funds will also be used for healthcare, education and other services as appropriate through partners in their home communities,” to allow their reintegration into the family and society. More than 1,000 underage camel jockeys have been repatriated since an agreement was first signed with the UNICEF in May 2005.

The UAE has also set up a rehabilitation centre for young camel jockeys in the capital, Abu Dhabi. The centre is the first of its kind in the world and will be run by the UAE authorities in association with the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust International in Pakistan.

In the 2006 ‘Trafficking in Persons Report’, the U.S. State Department recognised that the UAE government is “making significant efforts” to eliminate the menace. It upgraded the country from the “Tier 3” of worst offenders in which it was placed in 2005 to the “Tier 2 Watch List” comprising countries which are dealing with the problem.

‘‘What we need soon, however, is serious research into labour issues with the involvement of local experts who are sensitive to internal issues and understand the peculiarities, and perhaps even a research centre on migration and labour issues that could aid and assist the authorities,” Sabban added.