Abu Dhabi: A draft law on the welfare of UAE’s senior citizens is being reviewed by the technical committee at the Ministry of Justice, Mariam Mohammad Al Roumi, Minister of Social Affairs, told the Federal National Council yesterday (Tuesday).

Dr Shaikh Mohammad Bin Ham Al Ameri, a member from Abu Dhabi, has called for enacting legislation concerning maintenance and welfare of senior citizens.

“A law on maintenance and welfare of senior citizens should be initiated by the Ministry of Social Affairs to provide more effective provision for maintenance and welfare of senior citizens, who account for four per cent of the Emirati population,” said Al Ameri.

Al Ameri said although Emirati society places high importance on providing care and protection for senior citizens, some of them are exposed to various kinds of problems such as lack of physical, social, emotional and financial support.

“Some 95 senior citizens were reported to have been abused by their relatives or caregivers due to the lack of control and follow-up by families of these elders,” Al Ameri said.

Al Ameri suggested the legislation should pave the way to improve the quality of life of elderly Emiratis, integrate them into society and ensure that they are not abused and their health and well-being are protected.

According to official statistics of 2012, there were a total of 441,250 elderly Emiratis in the UAE or four per cent of the total Emirati population. This number is expected to grow as that segment of the population rises to six per cent of the Emirati population in 2017 and 11 per cent in 2020.

Al Ameri said the government provided Dh950 million in social assistance to 13,461 senior citizens last year.

The House also discussed a number of articles of a draft law on protecting the country’s archaeological heritage.

The House will complete discussion of the bill at a later session on request from Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development.

The new bill will make it an offence to import and export antiquities without a licence.

Under the draft law, approved by the Cabinet last year, a federal and local registry of historical artefacts and sites across the UAE will be set up to identify, classify and preserve antiquities as well as prohibit their import and export without a licence from the competent authority.

The UAE has nearly 3,000 archaeological sites, some of them dating back thousands of years from 5,000BC, showing the country’s history and civilisation but, until now, there are no formal statistics on the exact number.

The FNC recently pressed for registering some of the UAE’s antiquities as world heritage sites, which show the country’s national identity and its time-honoured relations with Oman, Iraq, Iran, India and China.

Ahmad Obaid Al Mansouri, a member from Dubai, put a question to Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, Minister of State for FNC Affairs, on the strategy to educate the public on the ever-growing role and activities of the House.