UAE PRESIDENT DEFENDS LABOR SITUATION IN THE UAE

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 000599 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR NEA/ARP AND DRL STATE PASS USTR AARON ROSENBERG E.O. 12958: DECL N/A TAGS: ELAB PHUM PGOV PREL SOCI GTIP AE SUBJECT: UAE PRESIDENT DEFENDS LABOR SITUATION IN THE UAE ¶1. (U) Summary: On March 28, 2007, local Arabic and English language dailies, released an interview by the London-based Arabic daily Al Hayat with UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The interview discusses, among other issues, the situation of the expatriate labor force and the imbalance of the population demographics in the UAE. In the interview, Sheikh Khalifa rejected international reports criticizing the labor situation in UAE, citing the large remittances to countries of origin by expatriate workers. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Shaikh Khalifa said, "We admit the demographic imbalance in the UAE, as do all other Gulf countries." He went on to say that because of this situation, it was inevitable that the UAE would need to employ a large expatriate labor force. "However, it is not impossible to control the situation, and we are making efforts to adjust the imbalance to safe levels to properly handle it in a way that preserves the security of our country and the identity of our citizens." ¶3. (U) Sheikh Khalifa continued by saying that most of the recently published reports on the rights of expatriate laborers in the UAE fall short in their reasoning and include a great deal of unfairness and arbitrariness. "The reports intentionally ignore the UAE's efforts to protect the rights of expatriate workers and to provide them with the means to lead a proper life." "Based on our belief in the significance of expatriate workers, as well as in the fact that we need them, the UAE has been keen to make laws and rules to regulate their entry, residence and work to make sure their rights are protected according to national laws and international treaties," said Khalifa. ¶4. (U) Khalifa continued by saying, "We have developed a health insurance system to include all groups of expatriate workers and have set up a court to take care of their complaints and grievances. The UAE has also introduced adequate procedures to provide health and safety standards for workers in their accommodation as well as in their work places. The Ministry of Labor has created an investigative body that is charged with making sure those standards are met." ¶5. (U) Khalifa also mentioned the fact that foreign workers remit large sums of money to their home countries: "It is regrettable that those unfair labor reports make no mention of those aspects and completely ignore that expatriate workers remit to their countries annually sums that amount to 8 to 9.5% of the UAE's GDP." During the Pakistani National Day reception, on March 25, the Pakistani Ambassador Ahsan Ullah Khan announced that the 700,000 Pakistani nationals in the UAE collectively send $800 million USD in annual remittances to Pakistan. ¶6. (SBU) Comment: Government officials are very concerned about international criticism of the labor situation in the UAE and frequently link the expatriate labor issue to anxieties over "security" and the perceived threat to national identity. Although the UAEG does not propose to include labor unions in the new law, it has taken discernible steps to improve the condition of foreign workers and to respond to international criticism. End Comment. SISON