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Mafiwasta / Human Rights for Change Complaint to the ILO's Commitee on Freedom of Association
Mafiwasta and Human Rights for Change have compiled a complaint for submission to the International Labour Organisation's Commitee on Freedom of Association. ILO member states agreed on inception that respect for freedom of association was an obligation implied through membership; acceptance of the ILO Constitution - one necessary step for membership in the Organization - is viewed as the legal basis for this. Accordingly, a Commitee on Freedom of Association was put in place. Cases can therefore be received even when a member state has not ratified conventions 89 and 97. The complaint is split into 5 sections. The introduction is printed below along with a description of the 5 sections.
Introduction - Since the first oil flowed from the Umm Shaif offshore field in 1962, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), comprising 7 semi-autonomous Emirates, has seen phenomenal economic growth. Kofi Annan recently described Dubai - the most high profile, although certainly not the richest of the Emirates - as “one of the world’s greatest economic miracles.” By contrast, the sizeable south Asian workforce, whose labour has contributed enormously to the growth (and without whom the vast development could not have taken place) have not shared in the wealth.
Exact figures are not available, but with a census report due out on 15 February 2006 expected to show that the population of the UAE has reached 5 million for the first time, it is estimated that at least 2 million south Asians (principally Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Nepalese and Sri Lankans) currently reside in the country. The official text Doing Business with the UAE states that: “the expatriate population of the UAE is close to 80%. Most are from the sub-continent”.
According to two recent Country Reports of the Economist Intelligence Unit on the UAE:
“Expatriate workers, and particularly low-skilled employees from Asia, have few rights…”
“Traditionally, low-paid expatriate workers have enjoyed few, if any, rights in the UAE.”
Exploitation of these workers, ranging from non-payment of wages to physical abuse, is not simply commonplace or widespread; as this document will show, it is systematic. The UAE’s labour laws are wholly biased in employers’ favour, and the mechanisms used to enforce the laws are completely ineffective. The government agency in charge, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, has neither the ability nor the willingness to execute its brief. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that the government as a whole, far from acting to protect workers, is an active participant in the abuse, profiting directly from a system which keeps a large migrant workforce in conditions of bondage.
This system of exploitation is underpinned by the denial of the most basic of human rights - the right to freely associate and to bargain collectively. Described as being “among the founding principles of the ILO”, the UAE has not signed core ILO Conventions No. 87 and 98 on Freedom of Association. According to the ILO, Conventions No. 87 and 98 form part of the most fundamental international labour law requirements.
Considering that the UAE had an OPEC quota of 2.51 million barrels per day in January 2006, it is difficult to envision any economic justification for the denial of these rights. Given the high mortality and suicide rates of the migrant workforce, the appalling living conditions, and the absence of individual or collective rights, Mafiwasta and Human Rights for Change hold that there is an urgent need for pressure to be applied to the government of the UAE. Mafiwasta and Human Rights for Change do not believe that reform of the system can be achieved through existing domestic pressures.
Section 1 - UAE Labour Law. The report outlines the basics of labour law and how it relates to migrant labour.
Section 2 - Enforcement of Labour Law. Outlines the difficulties involved in making a complaint and provides clear evidence of an inability on the part of government agencies to either uphold or enforce the law.
Section 3 - Labour Disputes. A summary of recent labour disputes and the shortcomings of the present system in dealing with them.
Section 4 - Health and Safety Issues. Details of deaths, suicides and indications of deliberate falsification of official government figures.
Section 5 - The Need for an ILO Investigation. Outlines the extent of the UAE government's interest in private firms and makes the case for an immediate investigation into their refusal to introduce legislation allowing for the introduction of trade unions.
Recent Articles:
Human Rights for Change Position Paper,
Human Rights Watch Press Release 30th March 2006,
All comments welcome at feedback@mafiwasta.com
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Alexander Solzhenitsyn