UAE recruiting agencies may be shut

DUBAI: The UAE government has announced plans to shut down the labour recruitment agencies, who charge labourers heavily to arrange for jobs and visas in the country, leaving them with large debts before they even start work.

UAE Labour Minister, Dr Ali Bin Abdullah Al Ka’abi, said workers’ cities will be built, all over the country, to take the place of about 170 labour agencies currently licensed by the ministry.

He said the labour zone will have one or two organisations that will be responsible for bringing in workers from abroad. The new cities will be managed by private companies with government supervision and construction companies will hire workers from the cities, he said.

“We will close them down. Some of the bigger companies may find a role in the new worker cities,” the minister was quoted as saying by the Gulf news as saying. At present, one company, Dulsco, is licensed to sponsor and rent out workers to UAE companies.