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UAE FACTS
Building
Towers, Cheating Workers!
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Exploitation of Migrant Construction Workers in the
United
Arab Emirates (HRW Report)
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Visibility of Migrant Worker Grievances |
About the Report |
Safety and Hazards |
Recommendations |
Visibility of
Migrant Worker Grievances
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Over the past two years, the UAE media has focused
significant attention on the grievances of
construction workers. Hardly a day passes when a
tale of abuse and exploitation of migrant workers in
general and construction workers in particular does
not surface in the UAE.
There are no independent organizations to monitor
the construction sector or any other labour sector
to report and document abuses systematically, and to
advocate for migrant workers’ rights. This has
produced a situation where the government and the
business sector are the sole entities deciding on
labor-related issues.
As is widely recognized, unions are the most
important vehicle for workers to communicate
grievances with relevant government bodies, to
negotiate with employers, and to seek structural
reforms.
"Unless the government starts to hold employers
accountable for breaking the law, the UAE’s colossal
new skyscrapers will be known for monumental labor
violations," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East
director at HRW.
During the past two years, thousands of migrant
construction workers have resorted to public
demonstrations. In March, the government promised to
legalize trade unions by the end of the year, but
instead, in September it passed a new law banning
labor strikes and announcing that it would deport
striking workers.
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Safety and Health Hazards
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Hundreds of migrant construction workers die each
year in the UAE under unexplained circumstances. The
government can account only for a few of these
deaths, primarily because it appears not to enforce
its own laws requiring employers to report worksite
deaths and injuries.
The embassies of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
repatriated the bodies of 880 construction workers
in 2004, HRW said, adding that the government can
account for only a few of these deaths "primarily
because it appears not to enforce its own laws
requiring employers to report worksite deaths and
injuries."
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About the Report
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'Human Rights Watch conducted research for this
report in the UAE in February 2006.
Based on extensive interviews with workers,
government officials and business representatives,
this 71-page report documents serious abuses of
construction workers by employers in the United Arab
Emirates.
These abuses include unpaid or extremely
low wages, several years of indebtedness to
recruitment agencies for fees that UAE law says only
employers should pay, the withholding of employees’
passports, and hazardous working conditions that
result in apparently high rates of death and injury.
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Human rights (HRW) Recommendations |
(1) To the Governments of the United States, the
European Union,
and Australia |
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The
United States, the European Union and Australia have
an important opportunity to urge the UAE to address
its failure to protect workers’ rights, as they
negotiate free trade agreements (FTAs) with the UAE.
At a minimum, they should condition any agreement on
labor law reform in the UAE that explicitly allows
workers to form trade unions and to bargain
collectively with their employers, and establishes
sufficient protections to adequately safeguard these
rights. More at: No Free Trade Pacts Without Reform! |
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(2) To the Governments of India,
Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka
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Enhance labor departments of your embassies and
consulates in the UAE to assist migrant construction
workers from your country whose rights are violated
by their employers. |
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Lack of civil society organizations, unions, and
labor advocacy groups in the UAE means that migrant
construction workers do not have access to any
institutional resources when their rights are
violated and are unable to self-organize to address
the abuses. The embassies and consulates of the
workers’ home countries should step in to fill this
void. They should provide their nationals with
guidance, translators, and legal assistance to
pursue their complaints with UAE authorities. |
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Raise formally with your counterparts in the UAE the
importance of the UAE government’s establishing an
independent commission to investigate and report on
labor-related abuses of migrant construction
workers. |
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The
UAE economy in general, and the construction sector
in particular, is highly dependent on migrant
workers. The economies of sending countries are also
benefiting greatly from the migrant workers’
remittances home. The UAE and sending country
governments should work cooperatively to ensure that
mutual economic benefits are accompanied by
improvements in workers’ rights. |
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Urge the UAE’s Ministry of Labor to fully implement
its labor laws and to hold violators fully
accountable under its laws. |
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Request immediate and
full disclosure of causes of death when your
country’s citizens suffer fatal injuries, and
regular reports of all workplace injuries suffered
by your citizens. |
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View full
report at:
Exploitation of Migrant Construction Workers in the
United Arab Emirates |
The 'HRW' Report Highlights the Plight of Migrant Construction
Workers
November 12, 2006 - Press Release
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This report was researched and written by Hadi Ghaemi,
researcher in the Middle East and North Africa
Division of Human Rights Watch. It was edited by
Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Human
Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa
Division, Ian Gorvin, programs consultant, and Carol
J. Pier, Human Rights Watch’s Business and Human
Rights senior researcher. Wilder Tayler, legal and
policy director to Human Rights Watch, provided a
legal review. Tarek Radwan and Assef Ashraf,
associates for the Middle East and North Africa
Division, provided research assistance and, with
Andrea Holley, manager of outreach and publications,
prepared this report for production. Additional
production assistance was provided by Fitzroy
Hepkins, mail manager, and Jagdish Parikh, online
communications content coordinator. Zina Al-Askari
provided invaluable help with research. Human Rights
Watch interns Howayda Barakat, Mahmoud Ibrahim,
Rupert Cowper-Coles, and Marie-Agnes Suquet helped
with research and translations.
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