Ministry employees 'issued more than 3,000 illegal work permits'

Abu Dhabi: The Ministry of Labour on Wednesday announced that more than 3,000 illegal work permits have been issued by its own internal staff and the ministry may press charges against those involved.

In a brave move by the ministry to highlight its own commitment to transparency, it revealed its own investigation at a press conference on Wednesday.

"As you can imagine, this was a disastrous shock for us. We were completely baffled with this discovery. However, one of our pillars in the ministry is transparency and therefore we are bringing this issue to public," said the ministry's acting undersecretary Humaid Bin Deemas.

The work permits were issued despite the documents required for them being unavailable and were issued by staff in the ministry's Al Ain's office.

"The ministry has set up a committee to further investigate this matter and has already held several meetings with the employees of the Al Ain office ... the committee has learnt that some of the employees can be criminally charged under the law," the ministry further announced in a press release.

The ministry said not much detail can be given out at this time in order to facilitate further investigation of the case, though it reaffirmed its commitment to help officials throughout the process. Until official charges have been laid and the ministry completes its investigation process, the names of the accused are being withheld.

"At this point we are devoting a lot of our efforts for investigating this case. It's too early to point fingers," Bin Deemas added. "As much as this troubles us, we are hoping to send a very clear message that no one is above the law."

The ministry has set up a committee to further investigate this matter and has already held several meetings with the employees of the Al Ain office."

Ministry of Labour press statement