UAE | Government

Abu Dhabi builds on 9 pillars of best services

The Internal Affairs and Defence Committee said in its report, which was brought before the FNC on Tuesday, that foreign workers should leave the UAE after six years and only come back after obtaining a new residency visa.

  • By Samir Salama, Associate Editor
  • Published: 00:35 May 7, 2008
  • Gulf News

Abu Dhabi: The Federal National Council (FNC) on Tuesday urged the Government to introduce radical changes into the citizenship and labour laws.

The changes entail that a six-year residency limit would be applicable to all workers subject to the Labour Law and domestic workers, that the Labour Law would cover workers in free zones and that only the Federal Government would be authorized to grant passports and citizenship.

The Internal Affairs and Defence Committee said in its report, which was brought before the FNC on Tuesday, that foreign workers should leave the UAE after six years and only come back after obtaining a new residency visa.

Lawmakers argued that, by applying this rule, the Government would be free of any obligations which might be imposed by international conventions regarding its foreign manpower.

These proposals require the approval of the Cabinet and signature of the President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan before they are made into a law.
Official statistics put the number of foreign workers at 3.113 million in 260,000 companies accounting for 90 per cent of the workforce in the private sector. It is estimated that the number of Emiratis will be less than eight per cent of the workforce in 2009 and the proportion will drop to four per cent by 2020.

Lawmakers also demanded that children of Emirati women married to foreigners or people who do not have proper documents must be resolved so that they can lead a decent living.

They further proposed that only the Minister of Interior would be authorized to grant passports in exception of the law.
FNC members demanded that the Labour Law be amended to make it applicable to workers employed by companies operating in free zones across the country.

They suggested that a federal law be issued to regulate employing domestic workers and making absconding from employers a crime in the labour laws.

The FNC members also recommended that unified ID cards be quickly issued for all foreigners working and living in the country to curb problems caused by people who break the residency laws.

Lawmakers also proposed severe punishments for people involved in trading in visas or bringing in workers on employment visas without real jobs in return for money.
They demanded that clear criteria be worked out to regulate issuing visit visas and tourist permits and that the right to obtain visas be limited to public joint stock and semi-government companies.

The FNC members moreover demanded that Emiratis manage tourist companies and that a central database for visas at the federal level be set up covering all sea, air and overland ports.

They demanded that the government ensure that Emiratis receive reciprocal treatment from other countries and that visit visas be issued by the UAE embassies abroad.

Social Affairs Minister quizzed

The Federal National Council (FNC) yesterday questioned Mariam Al Roumi, Minister of Social Affairs, over measures taken by the ministry to protect benficiaries of social security against soaring prices.

Khalid Ali Bin Zayed, a member from Dubai, accused the ministry of failing to do enough to protect low-income families against soaring food prices and cost of living in general. “The ministry of Social Affairs should protect low-income and unemployed people who are either receiving aids from charities or begging,'' he said.

He suggested that the ministry adopt a comprehensive welfare scheme for Emiratis in partnership with other government and non-government orgainsations to provide a decent living and other privileges for low-income people.
Increases of prices resulted in overburdening the beneficiaries of social aid whose number is more than 70,000 from 37,000 families.

Al Roumi said her ministry had conducted a study to understand the impact of high inflation rate on low-income families.

‘The study showed that prices of basic commodities have increased dramatically and recommended that social security payments be increased by 70, 100 or 174 per cent to help low-income people cope with these soaring prices,'' the minister said.

The minister said His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has ordered doubling the annual allocationsto Dh 2.2 billion, which allowed doubling the social security payments to more than Dh4,000 for each beneficiary . Sensing the need to support people and help them live an honourable life, the UAE introduced the social security scheme in1972 with allocations of Dh1,065,000 for 3,739 beneficiaries. By 2007, the number of beneficiaries increased to more than 70,000 from 37,000 families and the allocations amounted to Dh1.2 billion before it was doubled by Shaikh Mohammad. Some 25 per cent of the beneficiaries are lvining in Abu Dhabi, 18 per cent in Dubai, 22 per cent in Sharjah, 5 per cent in Ajman, 3 per cent in Umm Al Quwain and 11 per cent in Fujairah.

Ministry of Education was criticized by the Federal National Council (FNC) over Al Ghad Schools or schools of the future project.


Dr Abdul Rahim Al Shahin, a member from Ras Al Khaimah, said the project threaten the country's identity and culture.
“The ministry is importing teachers and curricula for these schools, which threaten identity of the country and the emiratisation scheme,'' he said.


Dr Hanif Hassan, Minister of Education said decisions by the UAE leadership have made development of a world-class public education system a top priority for the country. “In August last year, the first stage of implementation of the Al Ghad Schools program, began in a cohort of fifty schools. Other schools will be added in subsequent years. A new curriculum in English was introduced in Grades 6, 10, 11 and 12 with Science and Mathematics to follow in subsequent years. The Grade 1 schools integrated the teaching of English with Mathematics and Science taught in English. A second part of the Al Ghad Schools program, to be developed a bit later, will be in an Arabic language medium. He added graduates of the Al Ghad Schools program will be fully bilingual, knowledgeable about their rich culture and heritage, educated in an active learning environment, skilled in the use of information technology, soundly grounded in Mathematics and Science and prepared for higher education, successful careers, healthy lives and parenthood, all within a global context.


The Federal national Council have approved adraft law allowing the private sector to set up and operate power and water desalination station across the country.
Under the law, the Federal Water and Electricity Authority will be authorized to permit private companies to set up and operate power generating and water desalination station, provided that they will offer subsidized rates for Emiratis.
Minister of Energy Mohammed bin Dha'en Al Hamili welcomed allowing the private sector to make investments in the field of water and electricity.

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