UAE warns countries of strict restrictions for recruitment

The United Arab Emirates has warned migrant-sending countries, including Bangladesh, of imposing strict future restrictions on recruitment of workers if they refuse to repatriate their nationals from the Emirates amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Nearly 90 percent of 10 million population of the Gulf nation are expatriates, mostly from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Philippines, Egypt and Iran, who built the modern UAE. The number of Bangladesh in the Emirates would be around 700,000.

In a statement on Tuesday, UAE Embassy in Dhaka said the country's Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation is considering several options to restructure its cooperation and labour relations with countries refusing to receive their nationals working in the UAE private sector.

Private sector employs the majority of the migrants, officials concerned said.

"The options include imposing strict future restrictions on the recruitment of workers from these countries and activating the "quota" system in recruitment operations," they said, "The options also include suspending memoranda of understanding (MoU) signed between the ministry and concerned authorities in these countries."

UAE had been recruiting Bangladeshis mainly for domestic services until Covid-19 pandemic began, but there have been talks going on for opening up of the labour market for all sectors.

The labor market was restricted for Bangladeshis since late 2012 for reasons that were never clarified officially, but some officials said it was mainly because of some criminal activities and also to create a balance among various nationalities. 

UAE embassy statement said the country was considering these options of restrictions after "many countries" refused to receive their citizens wishing to go back to their home countries either because the citizens are taking early leave or because their services have been terminated in light of the current circumstances.

UAE said all countries of foreign workers in the UAE should be responsible for their nationals wishing to return to their countries.

Asked about UAE warning, a foreign ministry official of Bangladesh said the government was not made aware of any such thing.

He said the Middle Eastern countries, including the UAE, regularly detain some migrants for their undocumented status and then deport them.

"Now, with all the flights suspending their operations, the number of such migrants has gone up. Therefore, they want them to return home," he told The Daily Star without giving the number of such migrants.

Announce measures to protect migrant workers: Amnesty Int'l to Lebanon

Our Staff Correspondent reports that Amnesty International (AI), meanwhile, has called for Lebanon to announce a set of immediate measures to protect migrant domestic workers, including Bangladeshis, during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a release Tuesday, AI said the authorities must ensure that migrant domestic workers are protected from exploitative working conditions during lockdown, and that all domestic workers-- including the undocumented-- have access to healthcare during the pandemic.

An estimated 250,000 migrant domestic workers remain trapped under the country's kafala system, putting their rights and lives at risk during the outbreak, it said.

Of an estimated 1.6 lakh Bangladeshi migrant workers including around 30,000 undocumented in Lebanon, more than half are women domestic workers.

AI's Middle East and North Africa Regional Director Heba Morayef said, "While staying at home will help prevent the spread of Covid-19, it increases the risk of exploitation and other forms of abuse suffered by live-in migrant domestic workers at the hands of their employers."

"Exploitative working conditions, the threat of violence, and living under lockdown can also have a devastating impact on the mental health of domestic workers, many of whom are far removed from their own homes and families," she added.

Lebanon must ensure that human rights are at the centre of all prevention, containment and treatment efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic, AI said.