UAE still relies on Asian labor

UAE still relies on Asian labor

ABU DHABI (AFP): The United Arab Emirates (UAE) remains heavily reliant on Asian labor despite the introduction of entry curbs and calls for cutting the number of expatriate workers, officials said yesterday.

Sheikh Taleb al-Qassimi, chief of the Ras al-Khaimah police, said Arab labor was more secure than Asians given common traditions and languages.

"But Arab labor is costly and we cannot impose it on the private sector, which aims to make profits," he told al-Shuruq magazine. "So long as the Asian workers meet the requirements of the private sector, we cannot persuade this sector to replace Asians with Arabs."

Independent estimates show around 70 percent of the UAE's 800,000-strong work force are from Asian countries, mainly India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

The labor and social affairs ministry has repeatedly called on local companies to recruit nationals to tackle the burgeoning problem of unemployment caused by the graduation of a large number of students from universities and training institutes.