UAE threatens deportation after violent protest
The UAE Ministry of Labour on Saturday threatened to deport anyone involved in violent protests after workers clashed with police in Dubai during a demonstration over pay and conditions.
Employees of an unnamed contracting company took to the streets in demand of a pay rise, better housing and improved transport services in the early hours of Saturday morning, reported state news agency Wam.
The demonstration turned violent when police tried to remove the workers from blocking Jebel Ali Industrial Road, with some of the protestors hurling stones at police and passing motorists. One passerby sustained minor injuries, reported UAE daily Gulf News.
The ministry has called their actions “uncivilised” and said it would not hesitate to demand deportation of the "rioters" who assaulted police vehicles and public property.
“The ministry will not vacillate in taking necessary measures to deport whatever numbers of workers found responsible for such [illegal] acts,” Minister of Labour Ali bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi said in a statement following the protests.
“We will not be lenient towards whoever tampers with the security of the state and safety of residents.”
The road remained blocked for over 20 minutes at 5am until police removed the workers and cleared the road, the newspaper said, quoting Colonel Abdullah Al Gaithi, deputy head at Dubai Police establishment, security and emergency department.
"The protest turned violent when the workers started to throw stones at the police patrols and motorists. One motorist got minor injuries," Al Gaithi said.
The Ministry of Labour has said it warned protestors to report back to work or have their residency visas cancelled and their passports stamped with a life ban from entering the UAE, Wam said.
The workers were also told they would have their after service benefits denied for flouting the provisions of their labour contracts if they did not return to work.
According to assistant ministry undersecretary for labour affairs Hamid bin Demas, the workers strike was an illegitimate method of expressing demands, which could have been stated officially and peacefully through lodging a complaint with authorities.
“Assault against the public order and properties is completely unacceptable,” he said.
Demas added that the ministry had obliged the contracting company to increase the number of buses carrying workers from the work site to their accommodation and to provide decent housing.
However, the company refused to meet the demand of salary hikes as it breached the labour contracts signed with the workers, Demas said.
The workers are demanding a salary increase of 200-400 UAE dirhams - their current basic salary is 600-800 dirhams, according to Gulf News.
The contracting company has six accommodation colonies housing 4,000 workers.
Dubai police in March intervened in a similar labourer protest after 400 construction workers blocked rush hour traffic on Dubai's Sheikh Zayed Road protesting for higher wages.
The protest followed three other strikes earlier that month - in Sharjah and Al Ghusais - that saw workers from several construction companies demanding to be paid on time, or for salary increases.
According to a Human Rights Watch report last year, migrant workers have resorted to public protests and strikes in an attempt to improve working conditions. UAE government figures show that between May and December 2005, at least eight major strikes took place. Source
Employees of an unnamed contracting company took to the streets in demand of a pay rise, better housing and improved transport services in the early hours of Saturday morning, reported state news agency Wam.
The demonstration turned violent when police tried to remove the workers from blocking Jebel Ali Industrial Road, with some of the protestors hurling stones at police and passing motorists. One passerby sustained minor injuries, reported UAE daily Gulf News.
The ministry has called their actions “uncivilised” and said it would not hesitate to demand deportation of the "rioters" who assaulted police vehicles and public property.
“The ministry will not vacillate in taking necessary measures to deport whatever numbers of workers found responsible for such [illegal] acts,” Minister of Labour Ali bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi said in a statement following the protests.
“We will not be lenient towards whoever tampers with the security of the state and safety of residents.”
The road remained blocked for over 20 minutes at 5am until police removed the workers and cleared the road, the newspaper said, quoting Colonel Abdullah Al Gaithi, deputy head at Dubai Police establishment, security and emergency department.
"The protest turned violent when the workers started to throw stones at the police patrols and motorists. One motorist got minor injuries," Al Gaithi said.
The Ministry of Labour has said it warned protestors to report back to work or have their residency visas cancelled and their passports stamped with a life ban from entering the UAE, Wam said.
The workers were also told they would have their after service benefits denied for flouting the provisions of their labour contracts if they did not return to work.
According to assistant ministry undersecretary for labour affairs Hamid bin Demas, the workers strike was an illegitimate method of expressing demands, which could have been stated officially and peacefully through lodging a complaint with authorities.
“Assault against the public order and properties is completely unacceptable,” he said.
Demas added that the ministry had obliged the contracting company to increase the number of buses carrying workers from the work site to their accommodation and to provide decent housing.
However, the company refused to meet the demand of salary hikes as it breached the labour contracts signed with the workers, Demas said.
The workers are demanding a salary increase of 200-400 UAE dirhams - their current basic salary is 600-800 dirhams, according to Gulf News.
The contracting company has six accommodation colonies housing 4,000 workers.
Dubai police in March intervened in a similar labourer protest after 400 construction workers blocked rush hour traffic on Dubai's Sheikh Zayed Road protesting for higher wages.
The protest followed three other strikes earlier that month - in Sharjah and Al Ghusais - that saw workers from several construction companies demanding to be paid on time, or for salary increases.
According to a Human Rights Watch report last year, migrant workers have resorted to public protests and strikes in an attempt to improve working conditions. UAE government figures show that between May and December 2005, at least eight major strikes took place. Source
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