The United Arab Emirates on Thursday reiterated its commitment to provide a proper working environment for workers, particularly domestic helpers, in the country. In a report by UAE-based news site Khaleej Times, Major-General Nasser Al Menhali, acting Assistant Undersecretary for NaturaliZation, Residency and Exits Affairs at the Interior Ministry, said the ministry is committed to provide a working environment conducive to the welfare and interests primarily of domestic helpers deployed there. Al Menhali urged embassies of foreign countries in the UAE to fulfill their roles in addressing complaints by housemaids, by raising their awareness and helping them to pursue channels set up by the Ministry of Interior for protecting their rights under a “humanitarian and legal framework.” The report also quoted the top ministry official as saying that all departments of naturalization and residency across the country have units to settle disputes of housemaids. In case of a dispute between the sponsor and employee, the section receives and examines the complaint If found guilty, Al-Menhali said the sponsor will be compelled to grant the complainant his or her delayed salary in full and the travel fare if the employee wishes to return home. This is in addition to all rights under the signed contracts between the two parties, the report added. In case no compromise is reached, the section will submit the complaint to a court proceeding. Al Menhali said based on their records, the Dispute Settlement Section dealt with 8,216 cases in 2008. According to Al Menhali, this was a marked drop from the 19,814 cases in 2007. Records from the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency indicate that in 2008, the UAE registered 193,810 Filipino workers.
