UAE INCREASES THE NUMBER OF WORK VISAS

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 001794 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/RA, DRL AND EB/CBA STATE PASS OPIC/OPIC INTERNATIONAL POLICY DEPARTMENT FOR VIRGINIA GREEN AND HARVEY HAMBURG AMEMBASSY TUNIS HOLD FOR FSI: OLIVER JOHN USDOC FOR 4530/ITA/MAC/ONE/DGUGLIELMI, 4520/ITA/MAC/ONE/CLOUSTAUNAU, 4500/ITA/MAC/DAS/WILLIAMSON, 3131/CS/OIO/ANESA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB PREL PHUM PGOV SOCI CVIS TC SUBJECT: UAE INCREASES THE NUMBER OF WORK VISAS REF: A) ABU DHABI 47 B) ABU DHABI 945 C) ABU DHABI 1603 D) ABU DHABI 1634 ¶1. (U) Local press reported on April 13 that the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs issued more than 32,000 employee labor cards and 12,000 work permits to companies last month. Approximately 60% of the cards were new and there was also a "sizeable increase" in the issuance of group visas. The majority of issuances were in the construction and maintenance industries. ¶2. (U) Tariq bin Deemas, head of the work permits department at the Ministry, stated that the increase in visas was related to the industrial growth and urban development of the UAE, and the expansion of the workforce is meant to create "massive economic development." ¶3. (SBU) Comment: Though the UAE is currently conducting a well-publicized Amnesty Program to regulate and stabilize the labor market by forcing marginal and ineffective manpower to leave the country, this report suggests that the country is not yet ready to abandon its long-standing reliance on large numbers of cheap expatriate workers. (See refs A and D). The Ministry recently announced that almost 27% of the total labor force that came to the UAE in the last few years entered under false work contracts and that only 49% of registered businesses in the country were legitimate. (See ref B). By continuing to issue new labor cards and increase group visas in a period of economic stagnation, reform of the labor market is taking a backseat role to the continuing exploitation of the visa/sponsorship process whereby many Emiratis -- especially from the poorer northern Emirates -- derive significant financial gain. (See ref C). Wahba