UAE introduces new laws to protect human rights
GENEVA 23 January 2018: As part of its efforts to protect the rights of contract workers, the UAE has developed a strategy and a plan of action aimed at upholding the rights of expatriate workers in the country, according to a report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva as part of the Universal Periodic Review process.
A number of steps are being taken to entrench the protection of workers through contractual transparency and improving their living and working conditions.
The report, which was presented by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Anwar Gargash, noted that the UAE is aware of the fact that the relationship with foreign workers is one of mutual benefit as their remittances from the UAE help to grow the economies of their countries of origin and supplement the income of their families.
In the year 2016, a total of US$28 billion was sent from the UAE to the workers’ countries of origin of expatriate workers. A lion’s share of these remittances was sent to India, Pakistan, Philippines and Bangladesh, the report said.
In a bid to put in place high standards of professional conduct between workers and employers, the UAE Government continues to expand the extent of protection for workers through new legislation and improving the implementation of laws.
Model Contract
The report noted that the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation has adopted a “new policy for the recruitment of foreign workers abroad.” The policy aims to ensure that “contracts are unambiguous” and comply with “all legislative texts regulating the employment relationship between workers and the employers.”
Most notably, the report added, the UAE has promulgated a number of legislative instruments that provide legal safeguards to protect the rights of workers to exercise free will in their decision to work. According to the report, Ministerial Decision No. 765 of 2015 and Ministerial Decision No. 766 of 2015 entrench the principle of work as a choice. In addition, the 2015 Standard Model Work Contract, “affirms that employers are prohibited by the State from seizing workers’ passports, and stipulates that the worker enjoys the right to retain his or her identity documents.”
On a transnational scale, the UAE continues to support global dialogue in the area of workers’ rights as part of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue which saw the adoption of four guidelines for bilateral and multilateral cooperation among Member States in 2017 and 2018 “to facilitate initiatives relating to contractual labour” involving Asian labour-sending and receiving nations.
As for domestic workers, the UAE has introduced major reforms to guarantee their protection. Last year, the responsibility for monitoring the recruitment of domestic workers was shifted from the Ministry of the Interior to the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, which oversees the rights of all other workers in the country.
UAE-India MoU to combat human trafficking
In the fight against trafficking, the report noted, the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking, established in 2008, has played an effective role. The Committee’s Strategic Plan was adopted in 2012 and was formulated on the basis of five internationally-endorsed pillars, namely: prevention and prohibition, prosecution, punishment, the protection of victims and the promotion of international cooperation.
This Plan, the report noted, has enabled significant progress to be made in recent years, including the signing of Memoranda of Understanding to prevent the crime and to enhance protection for victims with Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia and, most recently, India. Work is currently under way on similar MoUs with other countries.
Legislation has been tightened up, the report noted, with the promulgation of Federal Act No. 01 of 2015 amending certain provisions of the Federal Anti-Human Trafficking Act No. 51 of 2006, which enhances protection for victims and increases penalties for the perpetrators of trafficking offences, in line with the international Palermo Protocol.
Raising Awareness
Among steps taken to increase awareness of trafficking within the UAE have been the installation of information noticeboards at airports, the use of audio-visual media, the holding of courses for high risk groups and the dissemination of publications in eight languages, aimed at those communities deemed to be most at risk.
In collaboration with the Dubai Police, the Dubai Judicial Institute and a number of specialists from within the country and abroad, including the sub-regional representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, training courses have been held for people working in the field of human trafficking, including law enforcement officials and members of relevant government departments and civil society organisations.
Concrete steps have also been taken to provide assistance to the victims of trafficking, this being considered as a key element of the country’s strategic plan. A number of residential centres and other centres providing psychological support for victims have been established. The most important of these include: The Dubai Association for the Protection of Women and Children, which was founded in 2007 to provide urgent care and support services to victims, in line with international human rights standards. The Association provides its services free of charge to female and child victims of domestic violence, children subjected to ill-treatment and victims of human trafficking.
Rehab Services
Emirates Red Crescent homes for trafficking victims. This programme, launched in 2008, provides rehabilitation services, including psychological, health and legal assistance, to victims of human trafficking. The first home for male victims of human trafficking was opened in Abu Dhabi in January 2014.
In 2013, the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking established its Support Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking. This receives financial support from national foundations and charitable societies and members of the business community. The funds are used to cover certain expenses related to the needs of trafficking victims and their families in their countries of origin, and helps them to establish small businesses. It also organises training courses to prepare them for future employment. Since its establishment, the Fund has provided US $153,735 in assistance to trafficking victims.
UAE to establish human rights committee
The report pledged that the Government would take a number of voluntary future steps to continue the process of enhancing the protection of human rights in the country.
Among these will be the establishment of an independent national human rights commission on the basis of the Paris Principles, the formulation of a comprehensive national human rights plan that is updated in the light of new developments and is in line with local laws and the country’s international obligations and the promulgation of a federal law on domestic violence. Institutional and legislative measures and mechanisms will be adopted to provide greater protection for domestic workers and to strengthen their access to effective arbitration mechanisms.
Special attention will be focused, the report said, on strengthening the role of specialised national mechanisms in the sphere of the protection of human rights, strengthening existing laws and legislation to keep up with best global practices and creating and training a team of specialised human rights officers. Also singled out in the report was the need to disseminate a human rights culture to the greatest extent possible, taking steps to entrench that culture in the professional world and in academia.
“The United Arab Emirates underscores that it will continue its efforts to promote and protect human rights in line with its national legislation and laws and its international obligations,” the report said. “The State is determined to move forward by building on achievements made in the field of human rights and to continue to make a positive and active contribution to support best global practices in that area.”
The UAE is “determined to move forward with its efforts to add to the outstanding achievements that it has scored in promoting and protecting human rights and to contribute to and engage positively in international activities in this domain,” the report said.
The UAE was re-elected to membership of the UN Human Rights Council in 2015.
UAE introduces new laws to protect human rights
Presented by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Anwar Gargash, the report details actions taken to promote human rights in the country since the adoption by the Council of the second Universal Periodic Review on the UAE in 2013, including legislation and steps taken across a wide range of topics, including human trafficking, labour rights and the empowerment of women.
The report also listed actions taken by a number of federal and local ministries and departments.
The Federal National Council, it noted, had established its Human Rights Committee in 2013, this being charged with the consideration of relevant bilateral, regional and international conventions relating to human rights. It also works to raise awareness of human rights and facilitates the dissemination of a human rights culture through its engagement with relevant educational and media authorities and institutions In the Ministry of Interior, the report said, a wide-ranging series of units and committees have been created to deal with the protection and promotion of human rights.
These include the Human Rights Department within the Office of the Inspector General, the Public Authority for Community Protection and Crime Prevention, which oversees a number of departments, including the Juvenile Welfare Department, the Ministry of the Interior Centre for the Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, the Office to Promote a Culture of Respect for the Law, the Federal Community Policing Department, the Federal Social Assistance Department, and the Ministry of the Interior Federal Centre for Child Protection.
The Ministry has also established human trafficking units within police command departments, while the Directorate General of Human Rights of the Dubai Police also runs a human trafficking monitoring centre. The Ministry has also established the High Committee for the Protection of the Child, the Ministry of the Interior Human Rights Committee, the Legal Council, the Police Disciplinary Board, the Women’s Police Coordinating Committee, the Happiness and Positivity Committee, and the Penal Institution and Police Station Detention Facility Inspections Committee.
Public Reportage
It has also set up ways for the public to submit information and complaints in a number of languages, while social support centres in the various police command departments have been established to deal with cases of domestic violence, violence at school and runaway children.
In the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, the Human Trafficking Offences Department is charged with monitoring the labour market and with following up on reports from inspectors or complaints from workers about human trafficking. It also carries out inspections of recruitment offices and coordinates with the country’s law enforcement agencies and other relevant authorities to combat improper worker recruitment procedures.
In Dubai, the Community Development Authority opened its Child Protection Unit in 2014, to provide social and psychological support to children, including, in particular, children who have been subjected to various types of abuse, and to help children overcome the difficulties they encounter, while the Human trafficking Monitoring Centre at Dubai Police General Headquarters monitors human trafficking offences, upholds the rights of victims and takes action to enforce the Anti-Human Trafficking Act. The Centre also collaborates with international organisations working to combat human trafficking.
A full list of the new legislation follows:
- Federal Contagious Diseases Act No. 14 of 2014;
- Federal Decree-Law No. 2 of 2015 on combating discrimination and hatred;
- Federal Act No. 1 of 2015 amending certain provisions of the Federal Anti-Human Trafficking Act No. 51 of 2006;
- Federal Rights of the Child Act No. 3 of 2016 (the “Wadeema” Act);
- Federal Decree Law No. 7 of 2016 amending certain provisions of the Criminal Code (Federal Judiciary Act No. 3 of 1987);
- Federal Decree Law No. 11 of 2016 amending certain provisions of the Federal Judiciary Act No. 3 of 1987;
- Federal Decree Law No. 12 of 2016 amending certain provisions of the Federal Supreme Court Act No. 10 of 1973;
- Federal Decree Law No. 8 of 2016 on accession to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography;
- Federal Act No. 21 of 2016 amending certain provisions of the General Authority for Pensions and Social Security Act No. 6 of 1999;
- Federal Decree Law No. 15 of 2016 establishing the Emirates Schools Establishment;
- Federal Decree Law No. 16 of 2016 establishing the Emirates Institute for Healthcare Services;
- Federal Act No. 17 of 2016 establishing centres for mediation and conciliation in civil and commercial disputes;
- Federal Act No. 5 of 2017 on the remote use of communications technology in criminal proceedings;
- Federal Act No. 15 of 2017 on domestic service.