Camel races in the UAE are now fully automated after the use of child jockeys was outlawed and they were replaced by robots. The robot jockeys were first introduced in the camel races last year but they were patterned after the human form and weighed around eight kilos. The new robot jockeys are now only half a meter high and weigh only two-and-a-half kilos. They were fashioned from an electric drill and resemble a box with a dangling whip rather than a human form. Camel owners and enthusiasts have expressed satisfaction over the camels’ performance with the use of robot jockeys and over the restored popularity of the game.
UAE officials admitted that over the past two years, the country has witnessed an increasing number of labor protests. This is particularly evident in the construction sector, where workers’ wages were often delayed due to financial troubles faced by some companies. The government’s efforts to safeguard the workers’ dues, such as the introduction of the bank guarantee scheme and requiring companies to submit quarterly salary payment reports, have failed to minimize workers’ problems. The issue has received international attention after the US-based Human Rights Watch criticized the working conditions of migrant workers in the UAE. Meanwhile, the Permanent Committee of Labor Affairs in Dubai revealed that based on a study by the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, an organized group of workers have been inciting their colleagues to protest even if the disputes could be resolved by other means.
Rajeh Al Fahel, head of the Health Education Section of the Ministry of Health has called attention to the deplorable condition of migrant workers’ accommodations. According to Fahel, he was shocked to see that the workers’ accommodations were infested with insects and rodents. He advised the workers to let the ministry know if their companies refuse to improve their living conditions. They can also ask the Ministry of Labor or the municipality to inspect their living quarters and rid them of the pests.
According to assistant undersecretary of labor, Hatim Al Junaibi, many construction companies have been ignoring health and safety regulations on building sites despite the ministry’s daily site inspections. Junaibi admits, however, that the government lacks inspectors to conduct daily inspections of construction sites. He said that the government is currently recruiting more qualified inspectors to ensure that health and safety regulations are enforced.
Workers protest colleague’s death from electrocution
Some 200 workers from the Dubai Contracting Company staged a protest on 1 April at their labor camp in Al Qusais. The workers accused their two foremen of negligence for failing to arrange prompt medical attention for Sayyed Murad Alisha, a Pakistani co-worker who died after being electrocuted at the worksite in Al Satwa on 30 March. The intervention of the Dubai Police and the Permanent Committee of Labor Affairs in Dubai helped end the protest.
Workers protest non-payment of wages
In a separate incident, about 200 workers of the Al Khoori Marine Contracting Co. similarly staged a protest at their labor camp in Al Aweer on 13 April to demand payment of their overdue salaries for the past three months. Apparently the delay in the payment of salaries was due to the company’s change in ownership. However, the company’s new employer, Matar Rashid A Jabiri, promised to settle the workers’ dues on 15 April.
A number of workers employed in the informal sector across the country complained that they are being forced to work, without any monetary compensation, during the public holiday commemorating the birth of the Prophet Mohammad. The workers claimed that they are being denied their rights guaranteed under UAE law. Similarly, employees in the service sector, such as hotels, cafeterias and groceries, are also being made to report for work without additional compensation during the holiday.
The practice of renting out laborers to other companies is widespread in the UAE due to the country’s construction boom and the reluctance of companies to hire their own workers. Only one company in Dubai is licensed to rent out workers without having to get their contracts authorized by the Labor Ministry. All other companies need the ministry’s approval of their contract before they can rent out their workers but few of them do this. Labor officials admit that they do not have enough resources to stop this illegal practice. In a bid to address this problem, former head of the labor minister’s office, Mohammad Salem, proposed last year a public-private initiative to create a workers’ city from where companies could rent workers. However, the proposal did not gain ground.
1,000 companies not hiring locals as PROs
A Labor Ministry official acknowledged that there are still a number of companies that have failed to offer their public relations officer (PRO) posts to UAE nationals. To date, only 1,700 out of 2,700 private sector companies with more than 100 employees have employed local PROs. As a result, the ministry has canceled transactions with the 1,000 remaining companies who have not complied with the emiratization process and has stopped renewing the cards of their foreign PROs.
Federal Health Authorities have implemented a new policy to curb the illegal trade of employment visas among doctors and technicians in the private sector. Under the new policy, private health centers and institutions in the country will no longer be able to apply for work permits for doctors and technicians unless they first get the approval of the Health Ministry. Previously, these private medical facilities applied for employment visas directly with the Labor Ministry.
Health insurance for expatriates to be enforced in July
Ibrahim Al Mousa, director of the Administration and Finance Affairs at the General Authorities for Health Services for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, announced that the insurance policy on health services would be enforced starting 1 July. The health insurance policy would apply to companies that have 1,000 employees or more. Smaller-sized companies would be able to benefit from the policy by January 2007. The scheme is in accordance with a presidential decree stipulating the establishment of a mandatory health insurance for expatriates to help ease their sufferings on account of the high cost of health services.
The General Authorities for Health Services for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is considering the possibility of opening the services of the Shaikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) to expatriates. Currently, the services of SKMC are exclusive to UAE nationals although they are also made available to expatriates in emergency and critical cases.
The Ministry of Labor has made arrangements for the sponsorship transfer of some 450 workers from the financially troubled Ayoub and Co. to al Shaafar and other companies in Sharjah and the payment of the workers’ three-month back wages. The ministry directly liquidated Ayoub and Co.’s bank guarantee following the approval of the company’s new owner. It has also asked some 300 workers whose whereabouts are currently unknown to contact the ministry in order to arrange their transfer to new jobs and the payment of their salaries.
Age is not a basis for contract termination
The Fatwa and Legislation Department in Abu Dhabi ruled that there was no legal basis for terminating the services of an overseas contract worker because he has turned 60 years old. The Federal Law on civil service allows the extension of a civil servant’s service even after that worker turns 60 by approval of the cabinet for a period not exceeding five years. The department’s ruling was in response to a letter sent by a government agency, which terminated the services of an employee on an overseas employment contract who turned 60 during his fourth contractual year. The worker is seeking the payment of two months salary in lieu of the mandatory prior notice of termination.
The Interior Ministry announced on 4 April the launching of e-services for visas and residence permits during the next few months. The e-services could be accessed through a set of automated systems to be made available on the Internet, through UAE embassies abroad and at shopping malls and gasoline stations. The e-services and solutions system is in line with government efforts to develop and improve federal work performance through e-systems.
The Federal Supreme Court has overturned the decision of the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeals acquitting a man for unauthorized entry into the country since he was born in the UAE and had no passport. The high court ruled that the man could not be considered a UAE national just for being born stateless in the Kingdom and that he needed a presidential decree to undergo naturalization. Hence, the defendant would stand retrial at the Appeals Court.
The family of Indian irregular migrant worker, Kannan Gopal, who recently died from tuberculosis in Dubai, has appealed to UAE authorities not to repatriate his body. The family was concerned that the moneylenders who helped financed the worker’s UAE trip would confiscate their house once they learn that Gopal had already died. Gopal had worked as a carpenter in Dubai since 1999 but has not earned enough money to pay back his loans. His family has requested that his remains be cremated in Dubai.
Seven Indian sailors have been charged for the murder of their colleague, Sudheer Nonia Jagannathan, 31, aboard the Norwegian ship, the Champion Pioneer, on 14 February while the vessel was in international waters. A hearing on the case is scheduled in the Fujairah court on 23 April. Meanwhile, Indian authorities have written to the UAE government requesting for the transfer of the case to India since both the accused and the victim were Indian nationals.
Indian national, Chandrasekar, had informed the Sharjah police that his uncle, Gangadhar Gattam Mallayah alias Gulla, has been missing since 4 March and may have been kidnapped by people with whom he had a dispute. Chandrasekar alleged that a foreman from the construction site in Jebel Ali had witnessed the kidnapping of his uncle by three people. Gulla arrived in the UAE about seven months ago on a visit visa and has overstayed in the country to work. The police have since arrested and interrogated two persons who admitted having some dispute with Gulla. However, authorities are not discounting the possibility that Gulla may have gone into hiding.
The Dubai Criminal Court sentenced two Indian nationals on 8 April to one year in jail each for embezzlement and breach of trust. The suspects were found to have misappropriated Dh38,860 from the payments they received to issue visas to foreign nationals without the express consent of their employer, Planet Travels and Tourism Co.
A top-level labor department delegation from Sri Lanka, led by Labor Relations and Foreign Employment Minister Athauda Seneviratne, is scheduled to arrive in Dubai on 13 April. The delegation will attend a meeting in Dubai on 16 and 17 April to seek a permanent solution to employment problems and other difficulties faced by Sri Lankan migrant workers in the Gulf region. During the meeting, the delegation is expected to conduct a workshop to be attended by labor ministers in the region who are responsible for providing jobs to Sri Lankan workers.
Some 38 Sri Lankan workers of the Al Noor Garment Factory in the Sharjah Industrial Area have been deported to their homeland on 4 April. The workers were abandoned by their employer who left them without wages, food or electricity. They had spent the last eight months in a battle with their employer for the settlement of five months’ back wages. Sources blamed the Sri Lankan Consulate in Dubai for failing to assist the workers in getting their dues.
Mohammed E. was sentenced to three months in jail by the Dubai Court of First Instance for faking his academic credentials. The court has also ordered the confiscation of his forged certificates. The Pakistani national had allegedly stamped his certificates with two forged seals from the UAE Consulate in Islamabad and affixed a fake Dh50 revenue stamp to them. He admitted obtaining the forged certificates from a counterfeiter in Pakistan.
Indian businessman and philanthropist, Firoz Merchant, handed 32-year old Pakistani, Mohammed Ejaz, a cheque for Dh14,420 to pay for his medical bills and two plane tickets to allow the bedridden worker to return home. The businessman had read about Ejaz’s plight in a local newspaper and decided to help him. Ejaz had been abandoned by his employer after he figured in an accident leaving him with no money to pay his hospital bills. With Merchant’s help, Ejaz was finally able to go home on 8 April to reunite with his wife and two children.
Four young UAE nationals are on trial for allegedly stabbing a Pakistani national last January outside a cafeteria in Al Ghusais. The victim claimed that the attackers had dragged him out of his car for a “revenge attack." He said that one of his attackers was not in good terms with his brother. The suspects, however, denied the charges.
Dr. Zafar Iqbal, Counselor for Media and Information Affairs of the Consulate General of Pakistan in Dubai, has clarified that there is no law or regulation requiring UAE-bound visitors and tourists to carry at least $1,000 in cash or travelers cheques. According to Iqbal, there is no official directive for immigration officers at Pakistani airports to ensure that UAE-bound passengers have sufficient funds for their trip. However, Pakistani residents in the UAE claimed that some of their family members in Pakistan were forced to reschedule their flights after failing to prove that they had $1,000 with them.
Two Filipinas, Aida D., 55, and Alice A., 43, were sentenced by the Dubai Misdemeanors Court to three months in jail each to be followed by deportation for allegedly tampering with four passports owned by four other Filipinos. One of the victims told the police that he had entrusted his passport to Aida who promised to help him look for a job. However, when she returned his passport, he found that the page stating that the passport was not valid for travel to Iraq had been torn off and the original date of issuance had been changed from 2005 to 2004. The passports of the three other victims were similarly tampered with. According to Aida the changes were done to allow them to be employed in Iraq. During police interrogation, Alice admitted that she had sent the victims’ passports back to the Philippines, where the tampering was done.
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