UAE’s labour welfare agency ‘doesn’t go far enough’

The non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch has welcomed the creation by the UAE of an agency to protect foreign workers against exploitation last week, but warned that it was unlikely to be wholly successful.

Bill Van Esveld, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: “Reforms must address the systemic problems that have created exploitative conditions, for instance the workers often end up with massive debts they cannot pay back owing to a fee they pay to recruiters. It is also a common company practice to confiscate workers’ passports. Together, these factors make it extremely difficult for workers to quit a bad employer.”

Saqr Ghubash, the country’s labour minister, said the reforms were aimed at improving labourers’ welfare, regulating their salaries and improving labour relations.

Most labourers in the Gulf are from south Asia. The average salary for a labourer in the country is about $200 (£128) a month. The working day can be as long as 14 hours and most labourers work a six or seven day week and live in cramped camps, often with limited facilities.

HRW’s recent research shows that construction companies commonly withhold one or two months’ salaries from migrant construction workers, and also often fail to pay on time.