UAE | Employment
Labour MoU to stop dodgy middlemen
A labour agreement to be signed between the UAE and four Asian countries will leave no room for middlemen to exploit labourers, diplomats said.
- By Sunita Menon, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 November 23, 2006
- The MoU which is scheduled to be signed by India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka aims to regulate the entry of foreign workforce.
- Image Credit: Gulf News Archive
Dubai: A labour agreement to be signed between the UAE and four Asian countries will leave no room for middlemen to exploit labourers, diplomats said on Wednesday.
Countries receiving and sending workers will have a clear understanding of the structures that are in place to ensure that there is no exploitation of labourers, they said, following the initiative taken by the UAE to ensure a security cover for expatriate workers.
On Tuesday, ambassadors from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka received the final draft of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) from Dr Ali Bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi, UAE Minister of Labour.
The MoU which is scheduled to be signed between the four Asian countries and the UAE by the end of this year aims to regulate the entry of foreign workforce. Al Ka'abi is scheduled to visit the four Asian countries at the end of this month.
Diplomatic figures show that there are 1.3 million Indians in the UAE, about 732,000 Pakistanis, 500,000 Bangladeshis and 160,000 Sri Lankans.
"The focus of our dialogue is on labour welfare and providing an effective mechanism for a quick resolution to labour disputes. It will be a single window resolution," said Chandra Mohan Bhandari, Indian ambassador.
Bhandari said the UAE wants to give priority to reputed recruitment agencies. The UAE wants to provide sufficient information in vernacular languages.
He said: "This is to educate workers in advance before coming to the UAE. We received a draft of the MoU yesterday and it has been forwarded to New Delhi."
Ahsan Ullah Khan, Pakistan ambassador and Special Envoy to the Middle East, welcomed the MoU and called it a positive development. He said the MoU will go a long way to providing security and comfort to the expatriate workforce in the UAE.
"In the past, workers were not aware of their obligations and responsibilities. They were exploited ... they were not receiving promised wages. The MoU, once signed, will change all that. It will safeguard the foreign workforce from falling prey to unscrupulous recruitment agents and middlemen."
Nazimullah Chowdary, ambassador of Bangladesh, said the MoU leaves no room for the middleman to manipulate workers.
He said: "Presently many of the workers are not aware of their rights and obligations. But not anymore as under the MoU contracts will be signed in vernacular languages."
Mohammad Nabavi Junaid, Sri Lanka's ambassador, said: "The aim of the MoU is to make workers' lives as well as their living conditions better. I do not think that any other foreign country has taken up such measures for their foreign workforce."
Share this article
More from UAE Employment
More from UAE
Popular in UAE
-
Your pictures
Readers' pictures
A Selection of the best Gulf News reader pictures this week
Latest news
- Arabian Horse Foundation honours Swayze
- Emirati students to be chosen for German internship
- Residency section clears 6,000 cases
- Residents opt for other gifts as gold soars
- UAE residents spend hours trying to cross into Oman
- Traditional theme at Etihad celebrations
- Dubai in for breezy conditions
- The true meaning of festival of sacrifice
- Maguindanao massacre victims remembered
- Rulers exchange Eid greetings
- Mohammad endorses Watani campaign
- School buses must do safe drop-offs
- Public urged to ensure food safety
- Plan to make you reach for the book
- The last strand could count in time
Community Reports
-
School buses must do safe drop-offs
Some bus drivers let students off at the wrong side of the road
-
Munching on a health hazard
Residents must be careful about consuming snacks and sandwiches prepared along the roadside as they attract dirt and bacteria
-
Faded signage fails to guide visitors
Reader seeks better upkeep of signboards in green areas
-
Noise pollution must be regulated
Residents are finding it difficult to sleep well at night owing to ongoing construction work
