Illegal foreign workers a big threat, says official

Sharjah - Foreign labourers also pose high risk to public health as they come with contagious diseases and spread it among people, he added.

Illegal foreign workers in the country are posing a big threat to public safety and health, a session held on the sidelines of Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) heard.
While speaking at the session titled "Effects of Foreign Labours", Dr Nawaf Al Jashami, Director of Security Monitoring of Sharjah Police department, said that 10,750 criminal cases referred to the courts in Sharjah were committed by foreign labourers.
Al Jashami pointed out that only 52 per cent make it to the 246,000 legal professions and the rest, 48 per cent are spread in various parts of the emirate or the country, carrying out illegal activities that affect safety and security of the society.
Foreign labourers also pose high risk to public health as they come with contagious diseases and spread it among people, he added.
Al Jashami said that there are 470,000 labourers in the emirate and they are employed in commercial, industrial, and construction sectors, with 55 per cent are Muslims and 45 per cent other religions.
These workers are classified into two categories - organised workers who work in companies and non-organised workers engaged in unskilled jobs, who abscond from their sponsors or companies and work illegally.
"The second type is very dangerous as they affect the security and economic, by carrying out illegal professions and committing all types of crimes."
The workers require security awareness programmes because "most of them ignore the law and rules, they need to know about it to avoid violations," he added.
afkarali@khaleejtimes.com

• Sharjah International Book Fair
• Sharjah