June 9, 2026
Migrants have once again been denied labour justice in the GCC states, this time due to the war. From power plants in Qatar to hotels in Dubai, workers say they were abruptly thrown out of jobs, denied clarity about their future, and left to shoulder the economic fallout of the US-Israel war with Iran. Most were not formally terminated, but sent home on unpaid leave without end-of-service benefits.
April 22, 2026
September 4, 2023
June 14, 2023
The deadline to register for the new unemployment system is June 30.
December 23, 2022
Barriers to accessing benefits disregard workers' lack of power under the Kafala system
December 14, 2022
Ambiguous phrasing and undefined terms continue to put power into the hands of employers
October 2, 2022
Corruption at the destination is part of the problem, UAE the biggest draw
May 14, 2022
A journalist deported from the UAE for reporting on migrant deaths grapples with memories of untold stories
April 23, 2022
Uber and Careem make it easy to violate the labour rights of their drivers
The UAE has recently ratified the ILO’s 2014 Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention. While this is a step in the right direction, unless the Kafala system is dismantled, eradication of forced labour would not be possible.
The UAE's Federal Authority For Identity, Citizenship, Customs & Port Security announced that it has extended its amnesty for migrants with irregular immigration status until the end of the year.
The UAE government has launched a two-month amnesty starting from 1 September 2024, allowing non-citizens with irregular immigration status to regularise their status without penalties.
The UAE has recently amended its labour dispute procedures, increasing fines for some employment violations and allowing partial payments to avoid legal action. The amendments also transfer jurisdiction for certain violations involving domestic workers.
Low-income migrant workers in the UAE report that they are facing an outbreak of dengue due to a lack of clean-up efforts by the government after the floods that occurred in April, according to a report released by FairSquare.
