VZCZCXRO2991
RR RUEHDE
DE RUEHAD #1340/01 0951252
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051252Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4372
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0268
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1506
RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 0656
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1321
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA 0020
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0001
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 0092
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 0026
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABU DHABI 001340 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR DRL, INL, NEA/RA, NEA/ARPI 
STATE PASS TO USTR FOR KARESH AND ROSENBERG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON ETRD PHUM AE
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH CRITICIZES THE UAE'S TREATMENT 
OF FOREIGN WORKERS 
 
REF: A. A) DUBAI 1842 
 
     ¶B. B) ABU DHABI 00286 
     ¶C. C) ABU DHABI 01223 
     ¶D. D) ABU DHABI 01104 
     ¶E. E) ABU DHABI 789 
 
ABU DHABI 00001340  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: On March 30, Human Rights Watch (HRW) 
published a report urging the UAEG to take immediate steps to 
end abusive labor practices. The report focuses heavily on 
the plight of foreign construction workers who often end up 
in &debt bondage.8 HRW also urged the UAEG to expand its 
staff overseeing migrant labor and to reform its labor laws 
so that they conform to international standards set by the 
International Labor Organization (ILO).  The Minister of 
Labor (MOL) responded swiftly to the HRW report calling the 
allegations &illogical and insane.8 However, he promised 
many of HRW,s concerns would be addressed by a new labor 
law, which he said would be signed by the end of the year. 
Hadi Ghaemi, the HRW researcher who wrote the report, met 
with emboffs during his trip to the UAE in February to share 
his findings.  Ambassador will be following up next week with 
Labor Minister Al Ka,abi.  End Summary. 
------------------------------------------ 
Human Rights Watch Article 
------------------------------------------- 
¶2. (SBU) On March 30, HRW published a report addressing the 
abuses of migrant workers in the UAE, and urging the UAEG to 
take immediate steps to end abusive labor practices. Sarah 
Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at HRW, 
stated in the article, &one of the world,s largest 
construction booms is feeding off of workers in Dubai, but 
they,re treated as less than human. ...  It,s no surprise 
that some workers have started rioting in protest.  What,s 
surprising is that the government of the UAE is doing nothing 
to solve the problem.8  In 2005, HRW reported that nearly 
20,000 workers filed complaints with the UAE Permanent 
Committee for Labor and Immigration regarding non-payment of 
wages and labor camp conditions. During the past year, 
workers have increasingly resorted to public protests in an 
attempt to improve working conditions, such as squalid living 
quarters, lack of medical care and non-payment of wages. 
Although most of the protests have been peaceful, one strike 
in Dubai recently turned violent (Ref A).  The Indian Labor 
attach in Dubai told Dubai pol/econoff, this is the first 
time he &felt the workers were in the wrong. ... There was a 
legitimate problem, but the workers should have settled this 
peacefully.8 
 
¶3. (U) HRW alleges that migrant workers comprise nearly 90% 
of the workforce in the UAE private sector.  However, emboffs 
believe the number is closer to 98%.  Workers in the UAE are 
denied basic rights such as freedom of association and the 
right to collective bargaining.  The HRW report urged the 
UAEG to comply with internationally recognized labor 
standards set out by the ILO and to become a party to several 
international conventions which protect workers, rights. 
HRW also urged the UAEG to increase the number of labor 
inspectors at the MOL.  Currently, the MOL employs about 80 
inspectors to oversee 200,000 companies that employ laborers. 
 
 
¶4. (U) The HRW report criticizes the UAEG,s protection of 
workers from death or injury at the workplace.  HRW asserts 
there were as many as 880 deaths at construction sites in 
2004, but official UAEG figures list only 34 deaths.  The 
report compares migrant workers to &indentured servants,8 
and it notes that most construction workers secure work in 
the UAE by taking a loan from a recruiting company in their 
home country.  A typical construction worker uses a large 
portion of his wages to repay the loan, and if an employer 
fails to pay the employee,s salary, the laborer falls 
further into debt.  (Note:  The cost of the job procurement 
loan is between $1400-2700 with a 5-10% interest rate and the 
average salary is $164 a month. End note.) 
 
¶5. (U) HRW called on the US, EU and Australia to require 
improvements in UAE labor practices and legal standards 
 
ABU DHABI 00001340  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
before signing free trade agreements with the UAE.  HRW 
stressed free trade agreements should include strong, 
enforceable workers, rights provisions, which meet 
international standards, as well as the effective enforcement 
of those laws. 
------------------------------- 
UAEG,s response to HRW Article 
------------------------------- 
¶6. (U) UAE Minister of Labor, Ali Al Ka,abi, categorically 
rejected the allegations contained in the HRW piece as 
&insane and illogical.8  Al Ka,abi,s comments were widely 
covered in both the Arabic and English press.  Al Ka,abi 
explained the various safeguards already in place that 
protect the interests of foreign workers.  For example, most 
employers must pay a guarantee when submitting a work permit 
application to ensure payment of wages should the employer 
default on salary payments.  The MOL also permits an employee 
to change sponsors if the employer fails to pay wages for at 
least three months.  Al Ka,abi said the UAEG does not turn a 
&blind eye8 to the problems as HRW alleges. In fact, the 
Dubai Police Human Rights Department and the Permanent 
Committee on Labor Affairs in Dubai were created to 
investigate and mediate allegations of labor law violations. 
The UAE labor law and other local laws safeguard the rights 
and financial security of expatriate workers in the UAE, the 
Minister said. Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan, 
Commander-in-Chief of the Dubai Police, said the Human Rights 
Department successfully mediated and ensured payment of $6.5 
million in salaries to workers from November 2005-February 
¶2006.  The Department also referred 6000 cases to the court 
during that time. 
 
¶7. (U) Al Ka,abi said that a proposed new labor law 
guaranteeing the right to strike and the right to form unions 
will be heard by Cabinet by summer.  The draft law will also 
include a clause allowing peaceful protests. The new 
regulation will permit a recognized representative of the 
protestors to negotiate on their behalf. The Minister and the 
U/S of Labor have previously told emboffs that a draft law is 
currently pending before Cabinet (Refs C & D). 
--------------------------------- 
Emboffs meet with HRW Researcher 
---------------------------------- 
¶8. (SBU) On February 29, emboffs met with Hadi Ghaemi, the 
author of the March 30 HRW report, at the conclusion of his 
investigative trip.  Ghaemi reported his impressions of labor 
conditions in the UAE and also recommended that emboffs and 
other USG officials push the UAE to reform their labor laws. 
Although most of what Ghaemi told emboffs was reported in the 
HRW publication, he also provided further details on his 
research in the UAE.  Ghaemi interviewed domestic workers and 
construction workers in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman, but not in 
Abu Dhabi or the other emirates.  He visited construction 
sites, labor camps, and several of the embassies and 
consulates whose nationals make up the majority of the 
migrant labor force in the UAE, including India and the 
Philippines.  Ghaemi requested a meeting with the Minister of 
Labor to hear the government,s views on the labor situation. 
 However, he was only able to meet with a mid-level DOL 
employee, who gave him no substantive information.  Ghaemi 
said unpaid wages were the biggest complaint among the people 
he interviewed. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Ghaemi explained to emboffs that most workers sign a 
contract in their home country in their native language. 
However, once the workers arrive in the UAE, the employer 
requires them to sign another contract in Arabic, which often 
lists a lower salary than the previous contract. Ghaemi 
estimated it usually takes a worker about two years to pay 
back the job procurement loan, received from a labor agent in 
his native country. 
 
¶10. (SBU) During his trip to the UAE, Ghaemi also interviewed 
26 domestic workers.  Twenty-four maids said they work from 5 
AM until midnight, seven days a week.  Many of the domestics 
reported being both sexually and physically abused by their 
employers or by other members of the household. Some are only 
 
ABU DHABI 00001340  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
allowed to eat bread or rice and many are only allowed to eat 
once a day. 
----------- 
Comment 
----------- 
¶11. (SBU) While post generally concurs with many of the 
findings reported in the HRW piece, it should be noted that 
the UAEG quite often sides with workers when resolving labor 
disputes, and that laborers are neither arrested nor deported 
for striking (Ref B). Ambassador will be meeting with the 
Minister of Labor next week to hear his views on the HRW 
report as well as other labor initiatives. 
SISON