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Why racist ads?

THIS is not the first time that the local Press has been warned against carrying job advertisements that smack of racism. What is ironic is that the advertisers would not dare contemplate running the same advert seeking a particular nationality in their own country.

So why do they do it here in this peace loving, broad-minded country where over 140 nationalities co-exists? This is the UAE. A small country with a big heart. A country where it is quite common to find Indians, Frenchmen, Bulgarians, Pakistanis and even Czechs getting together to rig up a start-up. Now where else would you get a mix like that?

Could it be that a care-a-damn attitude is creeping into some who think they can get away with breaking the clearly stated rules of the country. The law is very clear on this. Under no circumstances can newspaper advertisements “specify nationalities for the required labour cadres, unless national employees were available.” It can’t get any clearer than that, can it? And yet some deem it fit to test the authorities’ patience.

And it’s not just the advertiser who has placed the advert who is to blame. The media that runs these advertisements also need be on the alert. The Fourth Estate has an awesome responsibility in ensuring that racist job offers do not creep into their pages. Ignorance is not an excuse that can be tolerated. This is a tolerant community made up of different kinds of people from all kinds of places and all that this country asks is that you respect it — and its laws — the way it does your ability to help the economy. Surely that is not asking for too much.

• UAE