UAE draws up rules to protect domestic workers

DUBAI, Mar 5 (Reuters) The United Arab Emirates, facing criticism of its record on workers' rights, announced it was drawing up new rules to protect foreign domestic workers.

Interior Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed al-Nahayan said yesterday a new domestic workers' contract would go into effect in April to help protect their rights and regulate salaries and vacations.

''The unified contract embodies the UAE's commitment to continuously improve its laws and regulations according to global best practices,'' the state news agency WAM quoted Sheikh Saif as saying.

Human rights groups have accused the government of the OPEC oil producer of turning a blind eye to the non-payment of wages, lack of medical care and sub-standard housing for workers who form the backbone of an economy bolstered by high oil prices.

The measure should help maids, who form a large group among the foreigners who make up 85 per cent of the UAE's population of about 4 million. Many of the maids are from the Indian sub-continent and the Philippines.

The United States, which is negotiating a free trade pact with the UAE, is pressing the Gulf state to apply international standards to its workforce.

The UAE has promised to set up unions for workers, penalise firms that do not pay employees on time and crack down on abuses. But it has threatened to deport workers who protest.

Dubai, the Gulf's tourism and trade hub, is undergoing a massive building boom. Employers are often accused of failing to pay wages to building workers, and strikes and sometimes violent protests have erupted.

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