SOURCE : THE NATIONAL

ABU DHABI - JAN 31: Thousands of Filipino and Indian nationals heading to the UAE for work will be studied to improve the quality of life of people moving to the Emirates.

Under a pilot project, backed by groups such as the International Labour Organisation, Arab Labour Organisation and the International Organisation for Migration, 3,000 people will be selected for the long-term research project.

The study will follow the recruitment and arrival of migrants, monitor their living and working conditions in the Emirates, and track their return to and reintegration into their home nations.

Officials at the Philippine and Indian embassies are overseeing the project, the results of which will be presented to the Ministry of Labour in the hope of informing policy.

Grace Princesa, the Philippine ambassador to the UAE, said: “Why is it being piloted here? I believe the UAE is open and co-operative, and bold enough to be studied.”

Nasser Munder, the Philippine labour attaché in Abu Dhabi and a member of the project’s oversight committee, said he wanted the results of the study to ensure that all prospective employees were qualified to do the job, for which they were recruited.

“The worker may be asked to sign a new contract with a lower salary because he is not deemed fit for the job,” he said. “We want to ensure that their work is not risky and that they’re paid on time,” Mr Munder said. “We will monitor the progress of their employment. If problems arise, the Ministry of Labour will try to resolve them.”

“We expect most of [the workers] to approach us before they return home. We have to check if they got all their benefits. If they wish, we will assist them in getting a job upon their return,” he said.

When the project is over, the Philippines will continue to monitor the practices, he said.

The project will focus on three groups of workers from each country: those still to be recruited from both countries, those already working here and those who are preparing to return home.

Of the 1,500 workers from India, 60 per cent will be in the construction sector, 20 per cent in the hospitality sector, and 20 per cent in the health sector.

From the Philippines, the sample will be 50 per cent each in the health care and hospitality sectors,

Dr K Ellangovan, counsellor and head of the community welfare wing at the Indian embassy, said: “This is a stocktaking and fact-finding exercise. The project is aimed at enhancing quality and bringing in transparency. Policies will be built brick by brick with the inputs from the migrant workers.”

“We have to identify the employers. Who has a pending demand? We hope to have a good mix of employers and employees from both the Government and private sectors.

“The Ministry of Labour will analyse the results of the project. Our role is to facilitate, to identify the employers and employees, to identify best practices. This may lead to new policies and the strengthening and fine-tuning of the existing policies.”

Questionnaires will be given to workers during three phases – recruitment and pre-departure, employment, and return and reintegration. Initial questions will include how a person came to know about a job, how they were selected, and how they were briefed on the specifications of a role or position.

During employment, both countries will check workers’ living and working conditions and the information that was given to them by their employers.

Workers leaving the UAE will be asked what kind of information was given to them, their settlement amount, and their reasons for leaving their employer and the country.

There are an estimated 320,000 Filipinos and 1.5 million Indians working in the UAE.

The project is overseen by a committee made up of representatives from India’s Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, the Philippines’ Department of Labour and Employment and the UAE’s Ministry of Labour, along with the International Labour Organisation, the Arab Labour Organisation and the International Organisation for Migration.

Raveendra Rai, the vice-president of human resources at New Medical Centre Group, said about 250 of its workers were represented in the project. Of those, 100 were from the Philippines.

“The pilot project is an exceptional initiative to control the variables affecting the lives of migrant workers, which are at present outside the UAE Government’s purview,” he said.

“Under the project, a worker’s welfare is ensured right from the recruitment process until his rehabilitation in his home country after he completes his tenure in the UAE.”

The study is among the outcomes of the Abu Dhabi Declaration, signed by 20 countries of origin or destination in January 2008. It was launched during the Global Forum on Migration and Development in Manila, which was attended by Saqr Ghobash, the Minister of Labour, in October 2008.

The parties to the Abu Dhabi Declaration are 11 countries of origin – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

The destination countries include the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Yemen. It is not known whether the results of the survey will be made public.