History repeats itself in the UAE

When the economic boom started in the 1970s, hundreds of thousands of expatriates from various countries flocked to the Gulf countries as a preferred destination for work. And the UAE was no exception and the door was wide open to expatriates especially from Arab states.

The GCC countries were seen as a ‘promised land' after oil was discovered, especially by people of the neighbouring countries.

The huge influx of expatriates was also a result of man-made and natural calamities, including wars, famines and natural disasters that hit the countries in the surrounding regions. This is in addition to the huge number of workers who entered the country illegally.

In the early 1970s, the UAE had more or less a homogenous society. The continued waves of labour immigration though led rapidly to the creation of a demographic imbalance at a time when the UAE leadership was totally engaged in the establishment of the state institutions and its infrastructure.

In the late 1990s, the UAE's political leadership and the government began to give priority to the issue of demographic imbalance after they realised the potential dangers it poses to the country. Yet, the implementation of a strategy, drawn by the government to tackle the problem, was in need of a decisive political decision — the official go-ahead.

That strategy was based on several pillars with a focus on curbing/eliminating the basic factors that contribute to the continuing influx of expatriate workers and illegal residents, while raising the standards of living for the population, specifically UAE nationals and Arab expatriates — in a clear reference to the importance of the Emirati society's Arab identity.

As part of a comprehensive human development plan, the UAE sought to increase living standards and improve the quality of life of its citizens through setting up sophisticated health, education, security and social infrastructures so as to provide Emirati citizens with high-class services.

Two decades ago, the government's main focus was on reducing the number of expatriates working in low-paying jobs and unskilled labourers so as not to depend on foreign workforce in the construction and industry sectors. This was in addition to the introduction of laws which include tough penalties against those who violate the rules governing the country's demographic structure in general, and the population composition regarding the ratio of Emiratis to expatriates in the workplace in particular.

In the later part of the 1990s and the early 21st century, the evolution of the communication technology and affordable means of transport led to the radical increase of foreign workers and illegals in the country, especially with the increase in regional conflicts and economic downturns in other countries as well.

This led to the evaporation of ‘the strategic plan,' adopted by the government's committee tasked with addressing the demographic imbalance, set up by the government at that time.

Moreover, the foreign exodus to the UAE and other GCC countries never stopped, coupled with a growing advertising drive and media hype that portrayed GCC cities as a ‘The Promised Land' for all the underprivileged people from various parts of the world, especially from Asia. The UAE is also viewed by western expatriates as an ideal environment for investment, living, entertainment and real estate ownership where they can gain many rights and enjoy a modern lifestyle with few obligations and commitments, as if the UAE was in need of new expatriates.

As the percentage of foreigners reached an unprecedented rate, unmatched by any country in the world, the government has again set up a committee to address the same issue — the demographic imbalance.

Way forward

But history repeats itself today. Mistakes that were committed by the former demographic committee are being repeated by the current National Population Committee, whose loyalty and faithfulness are not in question. But there simply isn't a clear vision, planning and action, as the committee does not take into consideration historical and geographical factors.

Obviously, we will see again a work ‘plan of multi phases'; the first of which naturally is studying and proposing goals and indicators as well as the prospects and potential solutions. Within this context, the committee's current approach will be confined to studying and proposing, and no decisive action would be taken to tackle the imbalance in demographic structure.

Yet, if a decision is taken, the implementation may very well face strong opposition from those who believe such an action conflicts with their own interests — exactly as what happened in the past. Then we are back to square one.

In the longer run, the prospects are not very clear. The demographic issue along with the previous strategies and plans will be resurrected and re-examined, and again will be shelved. The issue will be studied a third time by a new committee under a new authority, which will repeat what we are saying today.

Hence, the grandchildren of the 1970s' generation will wake up after two decades and call for the setting up of yet another new committee to tackle another problem, surely related to the demographic structure.

Khalifa Rashid Al Sha'ali is a UAE writer.