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Amnesty has achieved its goal: Kaabi

ABU DHABI — The grace period granted by the Cabinet to violators of residency laws for regularisation of their status achieved its objectives, Minister of Labour Dr Ali bin Abdullah Al Kaabi affirmed yesterday.

“The proof is the huge number of violators who benefited from the amnesty either by regularising their status or leaving the country,” he said in a Press statement, stressing that the Ministry of Labour (MoL) will in coordination with the Ministry of Interior (MoI) intensify the campaign to penalise violators all over the country.

“Support given by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in terms of provision of a great number of inspectors and necessary mechanisms will enable the ministry now and in the future to maintain a comprehensive control and monitoring of the local labour market to detect all kinds of illegal acts and violators and take required measures as per laws of the country,” he maintained.

He warned that the presence of illegal workforce in the country had caused a number of negative effects on the community and this was evident by the flagrant breach of law on the part of employers and workers with regard to measures concerning import of foreign workers.

Dr Al Kaabi said that illegal workers, too, had caused a lot of problems including non-commitment to labour contracts, overstaying by workers without renewing the work permit, absconding of workers and working with other sponsors, employment of absconders, and harbouring of violators by both employers and workers.

The minister said the private sector’s cooperation in the campaign against violators was instrumental in the success of the amnesty programme.

The amnesty duration and the flexible measures adopted by the government with regard to exemption of fines gave them an opportunity that few would have dared to miss.

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