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Emirates Human Rights 
Association gets new board

Members attend the general assembly session of the Emirates Human Rights Association in Dubai on Wednesday. — Supplied photo

Jameela Al Hamili will be the new secretary of the association and Khalid Al Hosani the treasurer.

They were elected during the first meeting of the new members of the board of directors on Wednesday. The other members of the board are Ali Salem Al Qimaishi, Mariam Al Shomi and Obaid Al Shamsi. The election to the new board happened during the general assembly in Dubai on Tuesday.

Earlier, the general assembly was marred by arguments between representatives of the Ministry of Social Affairs, who alleged there were errors in the association’s financial and administrative report, and former members of the board of directors.

547 complaints received

According to the report, the Ehra received 547 complaints last year. Of these, 242 were related to the laws and complaints committee.

They were over job applications, deportation rulings and applications for obtaining residence visas. A substantial number of these was from Syrian expatriates, especially after the Syrian Embassy refused to renew their passports saying they had not undergone the mandatory military service.

Some of the complaints were settled by contacting the official entities concerned. They included the Human Rights Department at the Ministry of Interior (MOI), State Security Prosecution in Abu Dhabi, and Directorate-General of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai.

The committee on human trafficking had received two complaints and contacted the Dubai Police and MoI to discuss them.

The committee for people with special needs received five complaints, the naturalisation committee 25 complaints, and the committee for women 18, which included issues of domestic abuse like a husband beating up his wife, girls not able to complete their studies and women not being supported to get married.

The labour and labourers’ committee received 87 complaints. These included reports about workers running away from their sponsors, arbitrary dismissals, companies seizing employees’ passports and employers refusing to pay staff end-of-service benefits.

The committee on prisoners and suspects received 98 complaints. Some were from people who had not been released though their jail terms had ended; some others were from those wanted their trial be to started; and the rest about ill treatment by policemen.

The children’s committee received 28 complaints. They included a father holding on to the official documents of his children, violence against children and a man’s refusal to pay for the maintenance of his children.

Mohammed Al Kaabi, said the complaints that fell within the Ehra’s jurisdiction were settled through the proper channels with a focus on human rights.

The assembly decided to inaugurate the association’s new headquarters in September.

— malzarooni@khaleejtimes.com