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PROJECT

Vast oil and gas reserves have dominated the economies of the GCC states for  more than three decades. Migrant workers have transformed that wealth into the ultra-modern skyline of much of the GCC cities today. Within the GCC, Dubai stands out as a leading trading centre and serves as a gateway to numerous markets in Asia and Africa. Dubai envisages its future as a hub for global trade and investment. However, its lacks adequate standards and protections in respect of labour rights, as in the rest of the GCC, and this has been brought to world attention through a series of strikes since 2005.

A number of GCC states have, however, acknowledged the need for greater respect of labour rights over recent years. For example the UAE government has embarked on some initiatives in this area, a joint project with UNICEF on the repatriation of underage camel jockeys being a case in point. In 2006 the UAE government went much further, and pledged to give workers the right to form unions as well as announcing a new federal law banning human trafficking.

It is in this promising milieu, therefore, that this project aims to contribute to this critical policy arena, by studying the multifarious need for improving protections for migrant workers in the countries of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), with a focus on the UAE and in particular Dubai.