Artists urge Guggenheim boycott

From Al Jazeera:

Artists say construction workers at Abu Dhabi landmark art museum are being exploited.




While there is no explicit mention of human trafficking, the precarious conditions (i.e. substandard housing, confiscated passports) some of these workers are facing should merit an investigation. In a press release last month, the Guggenheim stated that there will be some independent monitoring mechanisms in place, although did not say how they would be conducted and by whom. Given that in this statement, they have committed to ensuring these abuses don't take place and then it was discovered through this investigation that 1,400 workers are still living under separate conditions, it might be time to start putting more action behind their words.

This is also not a new issue. The protests were sparked by a report by Human Rights Watch from May 2009. The museum is set to open in 2013.

Labor Reforms in Bahrain Tackle Local Unemployment Crisis

According to the Arabian Business News Source, recent reforms to Bahrain's labor market have begun to drive up the cost of employing cheap and unskilled laborers, increasing competitiveness of Bahraini citizens in the job market. This topic has been a pressing issue for the Bahraini Government in its efforts to expand job opportunities for Bahrainis and drive down its foreign population.

In a recent interview with Reuters News Agency, the Chief Executive of Bahrain's Labor Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) Ali Radhi revealed the cost of employing expatriate workers is rising, and although the cost increase is not significant, it presents an upward moving trend. Recent reforms have imposed monthly 26.5 USD training fees paid by the employer for each expatriate worker brought to the island Kingdom.

Another significant reform occurred last year when Bahrain became the first Arab Gulf state to eliminate the employment sponsorship system, which LMRA officials hoped would allow workers to change sponsors without consent and encourage them to freely negotiate higher salaries with employers, making them less attractive for hire in comparison to their Bahraini counter-parts.

LMRA data shows that there has been an increasing trend in workers who have decided to change their sponsors under this new system, and that the gap in wages between locals and foreigners has decreased by 15 percent in some sectors, like construction. Radh noted that the effects of these reforms will be more significant once the current contracts of outsourced laborers expire and employers can choose between hiring locals instead of foreigners for the first time.

The next phase of labor reforms will be the implementation of an adaptable cap on foreign employment in certain sectors that will be determined by economic growth and industrial output. The employment ceilings have not been released to the public yet, but are awaiting approval by the board of the LMRA and reflect recent data collected from various industrial sectors.

Many Arab Gulf states are looking to Bahrain's economic transformation policies with envy, as they also attempt to address similar struggles of incorporating young people into the job market. Countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have embraced bottom-down reforms that have forced companies to hire locals (and sack foreigners) in the recent economic downturn.

Bahrain is also working to tackle illegal employment of foreign workers, often perpetuated by local employers who recruit them to Bahrain but allow them to pursue other employment opportunities in exchange for a portion of their salaries, which throws them into financial and legal uncertainty, as well as, a higher likelihood of trafficking.

Tiger Woods

While Tiger Woods has been in the news a great deal lately, the connection between his business practices and slavery in Dubai has received scant attention. Rachel Maddow reports on this issue.



Though many celebrities champion anti-trafficking efforts, it is also important to consider the ways that they may - albeit at times inadvertently - support slavery through their lifestyle practices. We are all accountable for the continued existence of slavery through our own choices and practices.

Dying to Work

While we frequently discuss the trafficking of women and girls, or that of children, the trafficking of men is a less commonly explored subject. A few years ago, I worked as a research assistant at the Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM) at Georgetown University. One of the duties I was tasked with was creating an annotated bibliography for an anti-trafficking study that included academic literature on the trafficking of men. I was shocked at the paltry amount of academic literature on the trafficking of men for work other than prostitution. True, there is a significant amount of grey literature but the academic studies and resources on the trafficking of men are vastly overshadowed by those on the trafficking of women and children. I always wondered if this was because in many societies across the globe there is a notion that men are more in charge of their destinies; are less in need of protection. It is easy to forget that there are so many circumstances that can intertwine to result in conditions of modern slavery for millions of men around the world.

Trafficking of men feeds a number of industries, such as agriculture, service, and construction. In a Huffington Post article posted on September 15th, Cameron Sinclair explores the darker side of the construction industry, focusing on the situation in the UAE. According to Sinclair, there are more than 1.1 million indentured construction workers in the UAE, mainly from India, Pakistan, and Nepal. Once they arrive in the UAE, as in many other countries, they find themselves in labor camps with inadequate food and even worse housing. Frequently, these men have their passports and other documentation taken away and receive meager wages, if they are even paid. As the global economic downturn has put over $300 billion in construction projects on hold in the UAE alone, indentured construction workers are often the most severely impacted. Without status in the UAE, they have no access to services or assistance and, without documentation or passports, they cannot return home.

As it has become increasingly imperative, even trendy, to "go green," Sinclair reminds us that we must look at not only our environmental footprint, but also our ethical footprint. What does it really mean if we construct an environmentally friendly building if we use exploitative labor practices? Can we laud such a structure when it was built on the backs of people who are living as modern slaves?

Read the full article here

In a recent search I conducted, I found that there are more academic resources available today than there were three years ago on the trafficking of men. However, this remains a fertile avenue for further research and exploration.

Gulf states condemn US human trafficking report

From AFP:

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) - The Arab countries of the Gulf have dismissed as unjustified and political a recent US report which accused the rich countries of not combating human trafficking.

Foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), who met in Saudi Arabia on Monday, said the GCC "deeply regrets the wrong information on the GCC states contained in a US State Department report for 2008 on human trafficking," SPA state news agency reported on Tuesday.

"(This information) aims to practise unjustified pressure for political ends," said a statement issued by the ministers of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, without elaborating.

They called on the US State Department to "revise its unfriendly policy towards GCC countries," SPA added.

In a report issued last week, the US State Department kept Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia on a black list of countries it says traffic in people, while it applauded progress made by Bahrain and the UAE.

It said the four oil-rich countries admit men and women from Asian countries- such as Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines and Indonesia - and African countries like Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria and Ethiopia to work as domestic servants or other low-skilled labourers.

Many subsequently "face conditions of involuntary servitude," the report said adding that, to a lesser extent, they are forced into prostitution.

"For the last four years, the weak performance of several nations in the Persian Gulf has been the matter of great concern and disappointment," said Mark Logan, US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice's senior advisor on the human trafficking problem.

"As an update, I am happy to report that the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain continued to make significant improvements, notably the United Arab Emirates," Logan told reporters. "It is a model in the region."

UAE to Open Shelters for Victims of Human Trafficking

From the Inquirer:

The United Arab Emirates will set up shelters for victims of human trafficking, a regional problem highlighted by the United States and international rights groups, the local press reported on Wednesday.

The centers will provide shelter, health care and social support to women and child victims and will operate under the umbrella of the UAE Red Crescent Authority, the English-language Gulf News said.

"(The UAE) strongly supports international efforts to fight human trafficking," Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed al-Nahayan and Red Crescent Authority chairman was quoted as saying.

In 2006, the oil-rich UAE introduced stiff penalties including life sentences to combat human trafficking. In July 2007, two Indian nationals were jailed for 15 years in the first punishment under the legislation aimed at cleaning up the Gulf state's human rights record.

UAE Takes Tough Stand on Trafficking

By Zoi Constantine

From the National:

The UAE has underlined its determination to stamp out human trafficking in a report outlining, for the first time, a raft of measures being implemented to combat the crime. Download the report here.

Tough penalties, support to victims and co-operation with an international network against human trafficking form part of the approach described in the report from the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking (NCCHT), chaired by Dr Anwar Gargash, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

Combating Human Trafficking in the UAE 2007, released a year after the establishment of the NCCHT, also covered the challenges faced by those trying to tackle the problem, said Dr Gargash. “The report seeks to document our serious efforts to combat human trafficking and to outline and articulate our four-pillar strategy,” he said. “Through a tough legal framework, preventive action, our social support network and transnational co-operation, we intend to assert the UAE’s commitment and lead role in combating this heinous crime.”

The report will be presented at a UN General Assembly debate on trafficking in June in New York. It explains the steps being taken by the UAE since the introduction of Federal Law 51 in 2006 – the nation’s first legislation to be enacted against human trafficking – which set tough penalties ranging from one year to life in prison and fines of up to Dh1 million (US$273,000).

At least 10 human trafficking cases were registered in UAE courts in 2007 under the framework of Law 51, the report said. At least five cases resulted in convictions during the year, with jail terms ranging from three to 10 years for committing, aiding or abetting human trafficking.

“The country’s resolve to fight human trafficking at home and abroad in collaboration with international partners remains central to our counter-trafficking strategy,” Dr Gargash said.

Read the full article

Three Women Accuse Owner of the City of Hope of Selling Their Babies

From Gulf News:

Three young women of different nationalities are accusing the owner of the City of Hope shelter, Sharla Musabih, of selling their new-born babies to families in the UAE.

The women claim they were forced to give up their babies without compensation.

Irina Guseynova, a 25-year-old Russian woman, arrived in the UAE through Sharjah airport on June 3, 2003, on a tourist visa.

She is currently being detained at Dubai Central Jail for staying illegally in the country after being arrested in Abu Dhabi. She told Gulf News that she came here when she was only 20 with another Russian woman, to work as a prostitute.

"The moment I landed at the airport my boss seized my passport. I worked as a prostitute for a year just to pay back my boss the cost of bringing me here, and then I started to work on my own," Irina said. "Later I met an Emirati man from Fujairah. He told me we were married in the Muslim way, and I believed him," she said.

She added when she was six months pregnant the man ran away, leaving her with no money, no food and expecting a child.

"An Uzbekistani human rights activist took me to Sharla. I stayed in her villa in Jumeirah from August 19, 2005 until November 9 when I gave birth to my baby boy at Al Oasis Hospital in Al Ain," she said.

Irina claimed Musabih promised to help her get her passport back and help her with a ticket home, but she did not do it. "The day I went to Sharla an American woman married to an Emirati, identified as Linda, took me to Fujairah Hospital for a health check-up," she said.

Irina said during her stay Sharlah tried to convince her to give her baby to Linda, because Linda had no children and in return Irina would be given a ticket home. "Sharlah threatened to pass my info on to the the police if I refused to give them my baby," she said.

"On the day of the delivery an Ethiopian woman, identified as Zahra, took me to Al Ain and at 11pm on February 9, 2005, I gave birth to my baby boy, whom I have never seen," she said. "I was not allowed to touch or to look at my baby. When we went back to Dubai from Al Ain the next day, Zahra held my baby in her arms and at Sharla's villa the baby was kept away from me in a hall. I tried to enter the hall to see the baby but Sharla did not allow me," she said.

Irina added she was scared and decided to escape that same day at midnight. "After some time, while I was in Abu Dhabi staying with friends, I received a phone call on my mobile from Linda who asked me to go for a full medical check-up, but I did not go. A few days later Linda contacted me again, but I said I had no money."

"Linda was outraged and said she had paid Sharla a huge amount of money in return for my baby," Irina said. Irina said she never received a single dirham from Sharla or from any one else in return for her baby.

Read the full article

Filipina Accuses Shelter of Selling Her Child

From the Philippines Star:

A Filipina has accused the owner of a shelter for selling her baby to a family in the United Arab Emirates.

Gulf News reported that the Filipina, who refused to divulge her name, said she has given birth to a baby boy in 2005 with the aid of Sharla Musanih of the City of Hope shelter.

The baby was soon sold to an American woman identified as Layla who is married to a Saudi man living in Dubai.

The Filipina is one of three victims including a Russian and Uzbekistani by Musabih who earlier said that she never had pregnant women in her shelter. Musanih has yet to reply to the accusations.

Dr. Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and head of the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking said the "UAE government is keen to fight international human trafficking."

New Yorker Special on Trafficking

From The New Yorker:

The upcoming May 5th edition of the New Yorker features a lengthy article entitled, "The Countertraffickers: Rescuing the victims of the global sex trade." on trafficking in Moldova. This article is extremely useful to learn more about the many facets of trafficking and the response to trafficking. The main focus of the story is the work of a reintegration specialist for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Moldova and her tales of success and challenge in her years of work on this issue.

Rotaru, who is twenty-six, works for the International Organization for Migration, a group connected to the United Nations, in Chisinau, Moldova. She is a repatriation specialist. Her main task is bringing lost Moldovans home. Nearly all her clients are victims of human trafficking, most of them women sold into prostitution abroad, and their stories pour across her desk in stark vignettes and muddled sagas of desperation, violence, betrayal, and sorrow.

Her allies and colleagues in this work are widely scattered. An ebullient Dubai prison officer named Omer, who calls Rotaru "sister," has been a help. So have Russian policemen, an Israeli lawyer, a Ukrainian psychologist, an Irish social worker, a Turkish women's shelter, Interpol, and various consulates and embassies, as well as travel agents, priests, and partner organizations, including an anti-trafficking group called La Strada, which has offices downstairs from Rotaru's and a dedicated victims' hot line.

The article does go on to introduce the reader to some of these colleagues. The article also provides a bigger picture of human trafficking and responses to it.

There are roughly two hundred million migrants today - migrants being defined as people living outside their homelands. The reasons for this are globalization, and wars, and new border freedoms, and, above all, disparities in economic opportunity. Along the nether edge of the huge movement of people, human trafficking thrives.

Migrant smuggling is different from trafficking. Migrants pay smugglers to deliver them, illegally, to their destinations. The line into trafficking is crossed when coercion and fraud are used. (This line is not always clear, and many migrants endure varying degrees of mistreatment.) Trafficking can start with a kidnapping. More commonly, it starts with a broken agreement about a job promised, conditions of work, or one's true destination. Most victims suffer some combination of threats, violence, forced labor, and effective imprisonment. The commercial sex industry, according to the International Labor Organization, absorbs slightly less than half of all trafficked labor worldwide. Construction, agriculture, domestic service, hazardous industries, armed conflict, and begging are some of the other frequent sites of extreme, illegal exploitation.

Not all trafficking is international. India, for instance, has an immense domestic network, with large numbers of children being sold and resold, for labor and household servitude and prostitution. No reliable numbers exist, though. For cross-border trafficking worldwide, estimates range from half a million people annually to several times that figure.

The article also takes time to point out the difficulties facing organizations trying to work with victims including domestic violence, psychological problems, risks of re-trafficking, mistrust of authorities, victim-blaming, etc. All of this comes out in detail through interviews with various people, organizations, and victims. As well, the article points out that awareness can only do so much to prevent people from becoming victims. Even is a victim is aware of the problem, they often feel it is somehow distant from them or that it won't happen to them personally. This is also the case with former victims who decide to go abroad again: they think they're smarter now and can avoid any such situation.

One victim's story is also quite important for breaking the notion that it is just uneducated, poor people who are tricked into trafficking:

Were all her beneficiaries from broken, violent, alcoholic, impoverished families?

"Not at all," she said. "We received a call from one of our embassies last year. A girl from a prominent family had been trafficked. They wanted to keep the case quiet, of course. So this tragedy happened to her, but she has good parents. Bright future. Not like most girls."

The only area the article doesn't really cover is labor trafficking, child trafficking or trafficking of men. Obviously, as the title suggests, the article is meant to explain more about women caught up in the global sex trade. However, organizations like the International Organization for Migration also deal with the growing field of labor and child trafficking. In fact, it has been found that sometimes the two areas are overlapping and people are trafficked for both sex and labor. Also, especially women and children, are at risk of sexual abuse if they are trafficked for labor.

One area that does graze the issue of child trafficking are the risks of "social orphans" or children who are missing parents because the parents have gone abroad. This is also a major issue for Ukraine. For the most part, no one knows what happens to these children once they leave the orphanages.

The article follows the trail and structure of organized traffickers, delving into areas of corruption and poor attitudes among law enforcement, courts, and government ministries that only fuel the problem.

If you do not have time to read the article right away, there is an audio clip interviewing the author about the article with some of the interesting pieces there.

Trafficking Tough to Tame in Rich Gulf States

From Reuters:

DUBAI (Reuters) - Aysha sold her wedding gold to pay traffickers $200 (100 pounds) to find her and a cousin jobs in Dubai.

A world away from her village in Uzbekistan, she was forced to work in a disco and expected to offer sex. Beaten by her Uzbek boss when she shooed prospective clients away, she and her cousin fled and hid in airport toilets for two days, surviving on tap water.

Aysha's story reveals the dark underbelly of glitzy, fast-paced Dubai, the Gulf Arab trade and tourism hub. It also highlights a problem that bedevils many states in the region and is a bone of contention with their close ally the United States.

The 26-year-old, who only identified herself as Aysha for fear the traffickers would hurt her family, supports her son and sick mother back home. "Some girls like going to discos but I am Muslim, I cannot go to places where people dance and drink let alone work there," she said at the shelter in Dubai where she now lives.

Tens of thousands of people arrive in Dubai and neighbouring states each year, seeking a better life in a region booming on record oil revenues. But the wealth on show in Dubai's sprawling shopping malls, skyscrapers and smart restaurants attracts traffickers too.

Foreign workers and expatriates with different lifestyles and cultures make up over 80 percent of the more than 4 million population in the United Arab Emirates, a Muslim country. Prostitution, even adultery, are illegal yet bars abound where women are available for sex.

In a 2007 report, the U.S. State Department accused its Gulf Arab allies of being among the worst offenders in failing to prevent people from being sold into sex and servitude. It put the UAE on "Tier 2 Watch List" for not doing enough but Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar joined Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan on a list of 16 states subject to possible sanctions.

In 2006, the UAE -- a wealthy seven-member federation including Abu Dhabi and Dubai -- passed the Arab world's first law aimed specifically at combating the trade in humans, with penalties ranging from five years to life in jail. Last month, the nearby Gulf kingdom of Bahrain, which has a free trade pact with the United States, issued its own law.

"It is not a stigma on the UAE that human trafficking takes place because many prosperous, attractive places to live have this problem," said Anwar Gargash, a minister who heads a committee set up to coordinate efforts to implement the law. "The stigma is if we do nothing about it," he said. "We have done a lot ... but we have a long way to go."

Read the full article

Corrupt Immigration Officials Facilitate Trafficking at Airports

From Xpress:

To help curb human trafficking, a visiting senior Philippine official wants Manila to implement stiff regulations that prohibit airport personnel from escorting departing passengers.

Surveillance cameras need to be installed in major international airports in the Philippines to monitor and catch erring immigration and airport personnel, said Dante Ang, chairman of Philippine Presidential Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force.

He said these are part of sweeping changes that his team has proposed following a dialogue in the UAE with Filipino workers that included about about 40 women who claimed they were forced into prostitution by syndicates between 2006 and 2007.

Ang said his team appreciated the cooperation of the UAE authorities and noted the work of Dubai Police in pursuing human trafficking crimes.

Airport ushers, also called “escorts”, are men or women employed by various government agencies at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila.

They guide passengers through the maze of exit procedures, but they have been targeted by migrant workers groups and politicians for their alleged abuse of duty, including extortion.

Ushers are blamed for squirreling away undocumented overseas workers all the way to the aircraft knowing they don’t have pertinent papers and may end up at the mercy of abusive employers or handlers abroad.

The team’s recommendations will be submitted to Philippine President Gloria Arroyo.

“We recommend the termination of the so-called ‘escort services’, other than for the diplomatic passport holders,” Ang said.

Another solution, he said, is to randomise the queue, and retrofitting all immigration counters with cameras.

“This may not totally eliminate, but it can minimise the problem,” said Ang.

Visit visas have allegedly been used to lure Filipino women who end up being forced into prostitution.

In 2006, 30 Filipinas sought protection from the Philippines Consulate in Dubai against pimps who they claimed forced them into prostitution and 10 more came forward last year. The age of the 40 alleged victims were between 16 and 24.

The official said some of the victims go through Singapore, Hong Kong or Malaysia, before they arrive in Dubai. Filipinos do not require visas to travel to other countries in South East Asia.

“We’ve learnt that in several cases, the syndicate uses a ribbon marker for pre-selected Filipina human trafficking victims so they slip through the airport without any questions being asked.

“The Mama Sangs [handlers] deal with a few bad eggs at immigration. That’s what the victims are saying. Apparently, these syndicates have people both inside and outside the airports,” Ang said.

An official from the Philippine consulate told XPRESS on condition of anonymity they had gathered statements from several victims last year that bribe money changed hands at immigration counters before the girls ended up in the UAE.

“The bad guys [there] never go to jail because the evidence is weak, and testimonial evidence against them have no value, especially when complainants are overseas. They are just reassigned to other posts and recycled.”

Read the full article

UAE National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking to Expand Activities Internationally

Dr Gargash to head UAE delegation at the 'Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking'

From AME Info:

The United Arab Emirates National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking (NCCHT) concluded its seventh meeting at the Presidential Palace with a series of resolutions to expand its activities internationally.

The meeting was chaired by His Excellency Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for FNC Affairs and head of the UAE NCCHT.

The meeting discussed the preparations by the UAE for its participation at the UN Vienna Forum on Human Trafficking. A delegation led by Dr Gargash and comprising NCCHT members and government officials actively engaged in initiatives to combat human trafficking, will participate in the Forum to be held from Feb 13 to 15, 2008 in Vienna where the Minister will deliver a keynote speech.

Chairing the meeting, H. E. Dr Gargash said: 'The active participation of the UAE in the UN.GIFT - the (Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking) highlights our commitment to combating transnational human trafficking by pursuing a unified approach in line with international efforts and resources. The UAE delegation comprises representatives from NCCHT and government officials who are actively engaged in combating the human trafficking issue. Our international participation will help us expand our activities internationally, which is important to curb the problem at its roots'.

He added: 'The seventh committee meeting reiterated our four-pronged strategy to combat human trafficking which involves stronger legislations, focused training to law enforcement officials, providing support to the victims and promoting international co-operation'.

Dubai Police Crack Prostitution Ring

From the Associated Press:

Dubai police have announced a crackdown on a large prostitution ring, which human rights activists welcomed on Wednesday as a long-awaited move against the human trafficking rampant in this wealthy Gulf city.

Police said that they had conducted a series of simultaneous raids Saturday on suspected brothels, landing 247 suspects in jail in the emirate's biggest anti-prostitution sweep to date.

"The police have been working on this one for a long time," Police Chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim told The Associated Press, describing a year of surveillance on 22 villas licensed as massage parlors in several neighborhoods across this bustling regional business hub.

In a press conference Tuesday, Tamim said that the Dubai government has "declared war on human trafficking." "It's about time we can say the word 'trafficking' out loud," said Sharla Musabih, a human-rights activist who runs a local shelter for abused and trafficked women. "There's still a lot to be learned, but after seven years of trying to convince the police that these (women) are victims of trafficking, my heart sang when I heard the police chief say that," she said. Musabih added she has dealt with 400 victims of trafficking over the last six months.

The raids picked up 170 suspected prostitutes, 12 men believed to be their pimps and 65 alleged customers, all of whom have since been referred to the prosecutor-general to be charged, Tamim said.

Prostitution is illegal in the Emirates, a federation of seven semi autonomous states, but widespread in Dubai and particularly obvious in certain luxury hotels.

Read the full article

The Art of Trafficking?

Human Rights Watch questions Guggenheim museum labor

From the International Herald Tribune:

Guggenheim museum officials have not addressed concerns about how workers would be treated during construction of a Frank Gehry-designed art museum in the United Arab Emirates, a human rights organization said.

Construction has not started, but the Persian Gulf nation has a "systemic" worker abuse problem at other construction sites in the booming region, Human Rights Watch spokeswoman Sarah Leah Whitson said Tuesday. "We know how construction workers are used and abused in the U.A.E.," she said. "We know with confidence that workers are going to be subjected to these conditions unless the museum does something to insist otherwise."

Whitson said the museum foundation had failed to respond to numerous requests for meetings to discuss how to ensure that workers are not exploited. "If they ignore the abuse of construction workers so common in the U.A.E., they will put the Guggenheim's reputation at risk, as well as the laborers."

Last year, Human Rights Watch issued a report on labor conditions in the Middle East, saying the United Arab Emirates had "abdicated almost entirely from its responsibility to protect workers' rights." Labor Minister Ali Al Kaabi said the United Arab Emirates was increasing its enforcement of already strict laws on labor rights and human trafficking and was increasing the number of labor inspectors. While acknowledging the United Arab Emirates still had a long way to go, Al Kaabi disputed many of the report's findings, including allegations that the government was not penalizing companies for violations.

The United Arab Emirates already has issued laws addressing many of the abuses in the Human Rights Watch report: workers' salaries and passports held back by companies, dangerous working conditions, shady labor agents whose fees keep workers locked in debt and labor law enforcers beholden to connected companies, not to workers.

Read the full article