Ja Amnestyn katsaus

Foreign migrant workers, particularly women domestic workers, were inadequately protected against exploitation and abuse by their employers. The government refused to co-operate with UN human rights bodies. Death sentences continued to be imposed and there was at least one execution.

Migrants’ rights

Foreign migrant workers were inadequately protected against exploitation and abuse by their employers. In February, it was reported that migrants who had lost their jobs in the construction industry were stranded in the UAE because their employer had not paid them or still held their passports. Many were living in abject conditions in labour camps.
Foreign women employed as domestic workers were particularly vulnerable; many were reported to work long hours for little pay and to be abused by employers or their sponsors in the UAE. A government report issued in September stated that at least 900 domestic workers who had fled the residences of their sponsors had been detained by the authorities in Dubai in the previous eight months.
In December, the International Trade Union Confederation criticized the UAE’s Labour Law for not permitting trade unions to exist or to function freely; for denying the right to collective bargaining and to strike; and for giving the Labour Minister the power to unilaterally end strikes and force people back to work.


http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/uae/report-2012