DUBAI // The Ministry of Labour has announced a three-pronged nationwide strategy to improve living and working conditions of labourers. The campaign will target unscrupulous foreign recruitment agencies, which the ministry has largely blamed for exploiting labourers. It will also aim to raise labourers' awareness of their rights by publishing a guide book in eight languages, and continue to hold seminars with companies highlighting good health and safety practices.
"The launch of the guide book is imminent and it is meant to raise awareness within the labour population in the country about their rights and what they can do to preserve that," a high-ranking official said yesterday on the sidelines of a meeting between the Ministry of Labour, consultants and business leaders in Sharjah. The announcement followed claims in a British television documentary that some labourers were living in "inhumane conditions".
The ministry has held 38 seminars this year with businesses around the country, talking about health and safety standards and procedures, and says it is taking the issue seriously. The seminars outline in detail acceptable and unacceptable practices on work sites and labour camps. The Minister of Labour, Saqr Ghobash, said on Wednesday that the ministry was investigating the "veracity" of the issues raised by the BBC Panorama documentary "Slumdogs and Millionaires".
Yesterday the labour official said an education campaign advising workers of their rights was one of the initiatives on which the ministry was focusing, as well as encouraging employers to meet their obligations to their labourers. "The book would highlight what the worker should expect from his employers and what his rights are and what they can do if they feel they need to contact the ministry," he said.
"The ministry has also held 18 awareness-raising campaigns within labour camps and so far it has been a success," said the official, adding that most labour camps inspected met the ministry's strict health and safety standards. Some foreign recruitment agencies have recently switched their focus from the Indian state of Kerala, where media and government campaigns have raised awareness about bogus agencies, to Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, where potential recruits are less likely to be informed of the potential pitfalls.
The Ministry of Labour now intends to set up offices in those states, to monitor the situation directly, according to the official, who was authorised to speak on behalf of the ministry but could not be named. It is illegal to work in the UAE without a secondary school qualification. When asked about labourers being illiterate and unable read their own language, the official said: "If the workers cannot read their own language then they should not be here and questions over the recruitment agencies should be raised."
CP Matthew, a campaigner with the Valley of Love, a charity that cares for and repatriates workers who have lost their jobs, praised the ministry's decision to print a booklet in eight languages, including six South Asian languages. "This is great news because increasingly we are getting people who don't know English and Arabic and don't know what to do. If they get this booklet then they would know their rights and the ministry can help them," he said.
He said an increasing number of people with no previous schooling were approaching his charity for help. According to one nurse with experience working in labour camps, many workers with serious injuries return straight to work in fear of losing their jobs. Mr Matthew said: "What the booklet would do is probably help workers get medicine and know they don't have to return to work immediately if they are injured."
Indian expatriates in Dubai said they believed the guide book would help their community. Balvinder Assi, a trader, said it would solve a lot of the problems labourers faced due to not speaking English or Arabic. "These are simple people and the book should be written simply so then they can understand and tell people about it when they head back home," he said. The National contacted Bangladeshi labourers who refused to comment for fear that their employer could identify them. However, some Indian labourers were prepared to go on the record.
"We already know our rights, but there are many pockets and people who either don't know are just afraid to report their employer when it came to violations, said Ranjit Singh, a cleaner in the Bur Dubai area who lives in an Al Quoze labour camp. "Hopefully this new book can help a lot of people." Meanwhile, the ministry was investigating the BBC's allegations about conditions in labour camps. The documentary included footage produced by an undercover reporter from an Arabtec camp, which purported to show workers living in cramped, poorly ventilated rooms, with a lack of clean water and "sewage flowing through the camp".
The ministry official put the alleged sewage problem down to recent heavy rains when the Panorama reporter visited the camp. The footage was filmed on Jan 18 and 19, days after the area was hit by torrential rain. "There was a lot of rain on the day we believe the filming took place and that could have been the cause of all the water in the footage," the official said. However, the BBC said it stood by the Panorama findings "completely". A spokesman said: "In the case of the Arabtec camp - which they are closing down - our findings were supported by the Dubai Municipality's own inspections."
He added that Arabtec had been fined because of the overflowing sewage, and that a document proving the fine had been shown in the programme. The ministry will continue to inspect camps and meet company managers to improve health and safety standards further. shafez@thenational.ae
