By IANS
Abu Dhabi : The amnesty offered by the UAE to help illegal workers rectify their status or leave the country has achieved its goals, a UAE labour official has said.
“About 286,000 workers either corrected their status or left the country during the three-month amnesty period, which started June 3, indicating that the violators responded positively to the amnesty offer as the statistics and records show,” said Obaid Rashid Al Zahmi, assistant undersecretary of labour.
He estimated the number of illegal workers in the country before the amnesty offer at 300,000 to 350,000, according to news agency WAM.
The official said the success should now encourage further cooperation among relevant authorities such as the ministry of interior, ministry of labour, municipalities, free zones, chambers of commerce nationwide and other government agencies that issue work licenses to regulate and streamline labour laws and conditions.
He added that some construction companies recruit a larger number of workers than they actually needed, citing the size of work, which leads to the accumulation of foreign workforce in the country.
In addition, some shop owners conceal illegal workers so that they can employ them with lower salaries.
He reiterated that absconding workers pose security, social and economic challenges because some have complained to international organizations that they face injustice and do not get their dues.