UAE exploits Asian workers on 'culture' island: Human Rights Watch

[Naveed Yaseen]

ABU DHABI (May 20 2009): Human Rights Watch accused the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday of exploiting thousands of Asian workers hired to build museums and art galleries on a showcase island. Rights groups have criticised conditions in which labourers work in the UAE, a Gulf Arab country whose population has shot up to 4.5 million in recent years due to rapid urban development with mostly foreign migrant workers.

Many migrant workers are housed in shanty camps, work long hours under intense summer heat and humidity, and employers often retain their passports, preventing them returning home. The UAE has taken some measures in response to international criticism and a government statement in response to the report faulted HRW for not highlighting the steps.

"While the UAE government has moved to improve housing conditions and ensure the timely payment of wages in recent years, many labour abuses remain commonplace," the report by the New York-based HRW said. The HRW report refers to Saadiyat Island which is planned to be the centre of a prestigious "cultural district" in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. French museum.

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