UAE MAINTAINS SPONSORSHIP SYSTEM FOR FOREIGN WORKFORCE

By Muin Abdul Majid

DUBAI, Oct 13 (Bernama) -- The current sponsorship system for foreign
workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will continue, according to a
minister.

Labour Minister Saqr Ghobash Saeed Ghobash said however, concerns over the
implementation of the system should be addressed.

"I don't support the idea of abolishing the system. What we need to look
at, are amendments to practices (surrounding it)," he was quoted as saying by
Khaleej Times daily.

The newspaper noted that under the sponsorship rule, foreigners would need
their local sponsors' approval to enter the UAE, work in the country or switch
jobs.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, foreigners are allowed to change employers in Bahrain
without the approval of their sponsors since last year, while Kuwait plans to
do away with the sponsorship system in February, next year.

Meanwhile, the daily published a study which showed that 80 per cent of the
four million expatriate workforce in the UAE's private sector were unskilled
workers while the rest were skilled.

The survey also highlighted that the UAE government spent about 50 billion
dirhams annually as indirect social costs for the expatriate labour force in
the country.

-- BERNAMA