PHOTO
SHARJAH, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - MAY 01: Worker walk into the entrance of a large labour camp on May 1, 2006 in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. This is how many of the million plus construction workers working in Dubai are housed. The labour camps are often over 2 hours away and the workers typically work a 12 hour shift. The majority of labourers come to Dubai from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. These workers operate in extreme temperatures in the desert climate, the majority earning under $200 a month. Many have to spend a third of that sum on food provided at the camps as part of their contract. Most sign recruitment contracts in their own countries which take them into debt for many years. Their passports are held by their employers once they reach the UAE and if the company owners abscond the workers are often abandoned without their documents or due payment. Over two thirds of the Dubai population is migrant labour with 1.1 million working in construction. Dubai is currently second only to Shanghai in terms of the scale of construction underway on a 24 hour basis. All this is woefully underscrutinised by the Ministry of Labour, there are currently only 80 government inspectors for over 200 000 construction companies. Recently there have been rumblings of discontent from the workers, with strikes at numerous sites over the non-payment of wages and harsh working conditions. In 2005, according to Human Rights Watch, there were 84 suicides by construction workers in Dubai. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
NEW YORK — The Permanent Mission of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations organized an event to discuss reforms to enhance labor mobility and protect migrant rights.
The Saudi mission conducted the event in cooperation with the delegations of the Philippines and Bahrain.
The event, which came on the sidelines of the First United Nations Forum to Review International Migration, was attended by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development for Inspection and Work Environment Development, Sattam Al-Harbi, and the Chargé d'Affaires in the Kingdom's permanent delegation to the United Nations, Counsellor Mohammed Al-Ateeq.
The participants highlighted the rapid reforms and achievements implemented by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in cooperation with international organizations to protect the rights of migrant workers in a way that enhances their active participation in the economies of host countries.
© Copyright 2022 The Saudi Gazette. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).