Residency cap will not be discussed
The controversial six-year residency cap on semi-skilled and unskilled expatriates working in the Gulf will not feature in talks between labour importing and exporting nations at the Colombo Process, a senior UAE official told ArabianBusiness.com on Monday.
The cap on how long foreign workers can live in any one GCC member state was proposed in October by Bahrain's labour minister and received the backing of other Gulf nations, including the UAE.
The proposal sparked outrage among expatriate communities and was widely criticised by businesses already struggling to retain staff.
The proposal was due to be approved at December's GCC summit in Doha, but a decision was delayed.
It had been widely expected that the residency cap would feature high on the agenda at the four-day conference in Abu Dhabi on overseas employment and contractual labour.
Yousef Abdelghani, assistant undersecretary general at the Ministry of Labour, said specific issues would not be discussed and that the talks would centre on overall management of the labour market.
"This [Colombo Process] is for the management of the total labour market, not for specific issues," Abdelghani said in an interview on the sidelines of the conference. Abdelghani later added in a press conference that the residency cap was an issue specific to the GCC and was not relevant for the countries represented at the Colombo Process.
He said the conference would not touch on laws such as the residency cap, but instead would focus on forming partnerships around the administration of labour in the region, including labour supply and indicators.
Hamid Deemas, assistant undersecretary at the Ministry of Labour, added that the conference would discuss the creation of an international labour database, while the welfare and protection of contractual overseas workers would also be covered in talks.
"The three plus three (residency cap) is only a tool, a process, and is an initiative only discussed within the GCC. It may be discarded. We have a different community here, bigger players. This is a different venue."
Human Rights Watch on Sunday said it was hopeful the Colombo Process would address "widespread violations" of migrant workers' rights.
The organisation, along with other rights groups, has issued a letter to countries attending conference, calling on them to implement key reforms to protect workers from abuse.
Labour ministers from 22 Asian and Middle Eastern countries are attending the conference.
The labour-sending countries include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The countries of destination include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Yemen, as well as Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore.
HRW hopeful Colombo talks will stem worker abuse
Human Rights Watch warns abuse remains 'rampant', calls for minimum standards.
Rights groups demand four key reforms
Human Rights Watch and other groups urge reforms to protect workers from abuse. Source
The cap on how long foreign workers can live in any one GCC member state was proposed in October by Bahrain's labour minister and received the backing of other Gulf nations, including the UAE.
The proposal sparked outrage among expatriate communities and was widely criticised by businesses already struggling to retain staff.
The proposal was due to be approved at December's GCC summit in Doha, but a decision was delayed.
It had been widely expected that the residency cap would feature high on the agenda at the four-day conference in Abu Dhabi on overseas employment and contractual labour.
Yousef Abdelghani, assistant undersecretary general at the Ministry of Labour, said specific issues would not be discussed and that the talks would centre on overall management of the labour market.
"This [Colombo Process] is for the management of the total labour market, not for specific issues," Abdelghani said in an interview on the sidelines of the conference. Abdelghani later added in a press conference that the residency cap was an issue specific to the GCC and was not relevant for the countries represented at the Colombo Process.
He said the conference would not touch on laws such as the residency cap, but instead would focus on forming partnerships around the administration of labour in the region, including labour supply and indicators.
Hamid Deemas, assistant undersecretary at the Ministry of Labour, added that the conference would discuss the creation of an international labour database, while the welfare and protection of contractual overseas workers would also be covered in talks.
"The three plus three (residency cap) is only a tool, a process, and is an initiative only discussed within the GCC. It may be discarded. We have a different community here, bigger players. This is a different venue."
Human Rights Watch on Sunday said it was hopeful the Colombo Process would address "widespread violations" of migrant workers' rights.
The organisation, along with other rights groups, has issued a letter to countries attending conference, calling on them to implement key reforms to protect workers from abuse.
Labour ministers from 22 Asian and Middle Eastern countries are attending the conference.
The labour-sending countries include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The countries of destination include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Yemen, as well as Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore.
HRW hopeful Colombo talks will stem worker abuse
Human Rights Watch warns abuse remains 'rampant', calls for minimum standards.
Rights groups demand four key reforms
Human Rights Watch and other groups urge reforms to protect workers from abuse. Source
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