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THE Ministry of Labour has finally decided to do what it must — to ensure that unscrupulous recruiting agents which operate like the mafia are no longer able to exploit labourers coming to the Emirates on a labour visa.

The ministry has decided that those who sponsor labourers for jobs in the UAE will now have to fix and disclose the salary of each individual labourer concerned — prior to employment. This will also check the illegal 'trade' in labour visas. The salary mentioned in the job documents will be deemed to be an official statement and thus legally enforceable as well — in case, any attempt is made subsequently to change the terms of employment to exploit the innocent labourer.

Many recruiting agents, as is well known, usually misrepresent facts and mislead labourers at the time of recruitment or offering them employment in the UAE. By the time the labourers land here and realise that they have been misled, it is invariably too late. In any case, they are hardly in a position to make any legal claims.

We have addressed this problem several times in the past in this column. It is good to note that the Ministry of Labour has finally decided to act in this matter. We now hope that all the other departments and agencies concerned too would coordinate and cooperate with each other to avoid and conflict or confusion in this context.