GCC may put six-year cap for foreign workers
Dubai (PTI): A six-year residency cap on unskilled expatriate workers in the Gulf region, which was under consideration for the past three years, may soon be enforced by the GCC countries.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) ministers of labour will consider a proposal to define a time-frame ceiling for residency of foreign workers in member states at a meeting in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, next month.
The measure may, however, spell trouble for labour-exporting nations like India which comprise the majority of the foreign expat population in the Gulf.
The labour ministers' council will also explore the possibility of enacting a law for domestic helpers and creating a model system for local market data base.
UAE Minister of Labour Dr Ali bin Abdullah Al Ka'abi said the meeting will discuss the 3+3 law, which allows unskilled workforce to stay in the country for three years and can be renewed.
The proposal would also be discussed during the next GCC summit scheduled for December.
Though the GCC countries are heavily dependent on foreign workers for everything from manual labour to company executives, there is growing concern over unemployment among the local population.
A study by Sharjah University last year found 32.6 per cent of men and 47.7 per cent of women in the UAE unemployed and seeking work.
Foreign workers comprise 40 percent of the 35 million population of the GCC, which consists of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait.
Expats account for around 80-90 percent of the population in Qatar and the UAE, while in Kuwait it is roughly 60 percent and in Bahrain 40 percent.
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