Lawmakers have called for the controversial plan to cap how long expatriates can live in the Gulf be brought into force in the UAE, according to a report by the Federal National Council (FNC).
The FNC’s Interior and Defence Committee has formally recommended new legislation limiting unskilled workers, which make up a large percentage of the UAE’s population of over four million, to six year, after which they will have to leave the country, UAE daily The National reported on Thursday.
Under the legislation, labourers, housemaids, farmers and herders would be banned from renewing their work visas after six years and would only be able to return to the UAE by going through the entire visa application process again, according to the newspaper.
The recommendation has been submitted to the government for consideration.
“It is a guideline and it has yet to be discussed officially in the Government,” said Ahmad Shabeeb Al Thaheri, the deputy speaker of the FNC, quoted The National.
Gulf governments have been debating whether to impose restrictions on how long certain expatriates can living in the Gulf for some time as a way to prevent the erosion of local culture and to stem soaring unemployment among nationals.
Gulf states almost entirely dependent on foreign labour to fuel their booming economies and as a result expatriates make up around 40% of the GCC’s total population of around 37 million, although the percentage of expatriates in places such as the UAE and Qatar is more than 80%.
However, the proposal to impose a six-year cap on certain expatriates has proved very unpopular among workers and employers throughout the Gulf.
The idea was first announced by Bahrain Labour Minister Majeed Al-Alawi in October last year and was due to be discussed at December’s GCC summit. However a decision was postponed and the cap is now set to be discussed at this year’s summit in Muscat.
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