Minister: No Jordanian workers laid off in UAE

Amman: Conditions of the Jordanian workers in the UAE are well and good, a senior Jordanian labour official affirmed here on Tuesday.

"The Jordanian Ministry of Labour has not received or been notified about lay off of Jordanian workers in the UAE," Mazen Aouda, Secretary General of Jordanian Ministry of Labour said.

"The Ministry is closely monitoring the conditions of Jordanian employees in the
UAE," he said, noting that "Dubai crisis is a passing cloud and that the UAE economic potentials and infrastructure are strong to weather any storm swiftly."

He added that reports by labour consultants indicate to the stability of conditions.

Meanwhile, Jordanian Minister of Labour, Dr. Gazi Shebekat, affirmed that "There
is no concern about conditions of the Jordanian workers in the UAE in general and
Dubai in particular."

In a statement published here on Tuesday, Shebekat said his ministry was coordinating

with the Jordanian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Consul in Dubai which affirmed that no sacked Jordanian worker had approached them.

"The Ministry has neither felt nor been informed officially or unofficially about sackings
which indicates that no lay-offs will take place in future," he stressed.

About 200,000 Jordanians are working in sectors as diverse as construction, health,
education and electronics, according to official ministry statistics.