The meeting was also attended by Abdul Hadi Al Khaja, UAE Ambassador to Greece and the UAE’s official delegation comprising Yousef Abdullah Abdul Ghani, Executive Director for Policy and Strategy at Ministry of Labour and Col. Rashid Sultan Al Akhdhar, Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Interior.

Later in a statement to the media, Ghobash stressed the importance of UAE’s participation and co-chairing of the round-table meeting at the Forum, which was attended by Labour ministers from156 countries and heads of international organizations working in the field of Labour and migration as well as representatives of civil society groups from across the world.

Ghobash said that the UAE was a key player in the forum and had actively participated in formulating all the policies and decisions pertaining to labour welfare, migration and economic development adopted by the Forum.

He said the discussions and decisions on improving the conditions of workers and guaranteeing their rights were well presented by the UAE.

The minister said that there was evident congruence between the views of UAE and that of the Swedish Labour Minister who represented the European Union in the Forum, especially that related to the concepts in the description of employment, whether contractual or temporary, as well as migration as both the ministers were against the principle of permanent migration and supported the idea of helping the migrant workers to integrate back into their communities of origin.

He said that the Global Forum on Migration and Development was fruitful and has produced positive results. It was only natural that all parties showed the concern for the need for migration to be focused and productive, sustainable and not excessive.

Ghobash said that the labour in the UAE contribute to the economic process, and in return receive the attention, care and keenness of the political leadership in the country. Their rights are always guaranteed without compromise.

At the same time, we always look forward to seeing the temporary workers to return to their homelands to reintegrate with their societies as part of the plans developed by their respective countries for sustainable development, Ghobash added.

He stressed that the UAE will continue to participate in this forum in the coming years because the fundamental value of the forum lies in that it provides an open platform to exchange views, ideas and experiences and we must maintain this openness in communication that was a key factor in the success of the Forum so far.

The minister said that the most prominent achievement of the forum was the unity of the concepts on classification of workers

We all must be aware of the fact that the types of migration are changing with the time, and when we adopt policies in response to this change, we must be flexible and adaptive, said Ghobash.

“Because of the nature of the needs of the labor market, UAE shows special attention to the models of labour migration with temporary or circular nature. At the same time, the country also perceives very well that it can also take advantage of good practices related to migration models that might be very different”, said the minister.

He reiterated that the UAE was committed to the protection of the rights of workers, according to human rights ratified by the international conventions. So, UAE found warm welcome from the specialized international organizations, he added.

Ghobash said that the UAE is fully aware of the contribution of the contractual workers to the economic development, and in turn, the country is committed to protecting the rights of the workers and enable them to achieve maximum benefit during their stay in the country.