Abu Dhabi - FNC member Kifah Al Zaabi also asked why the ministry only hands out financial allowances to divorcees who are 45 and above?
Published: Tue 2 Jun 2020, 5:00 PM
Updated: Wed 3 Jun 2020, 11:54 PM
A previous version of this report erroneously attributed the figure of unemployed Emiratis to Hessa bint Issa Buhamid, Minister of Community Development. The error is regretted.
A total of 12,653 UAE nationals across the country are jobless, including 4,461 Emiratis in Abu Dhabi, 3,812 in Dubai and 4,180 in the northern emirates, said Adnan Hamad, member of the Federal National Council (FNC) .
He was addressing the question to Hessa bint Issa Buhamid, the minister of community development as to why social allowances are not being issued to jobless Emiratis in the country during a virtual FNC meeting on Tuesday.
Hamad argued that it was true that unemployed persons are not among those directly entitled for social assistance according to Article 4 of the law no. 2 of 2001.
"But Article 7 of the same law says that social assistance should be extended to Emiratis who have no jobs on an exceptional basis, to support them in certain situations. For instance, there are those with health problems which prevent them from working; people who have defaulted in temporary financial cases; or those who have been serving prison sentences and cannot get a job easily," he said.
However, Buhamid said a total of 3,245 social allowances have been given out to jobless Emiratis since 2017 till the first quarter of 2020 for a period of six months. "These included 1,277 Emiratis in 2017, 811 in 2018, 772 in 2019 and 385 this year. Those who receive the social assistance sign declaration forms indicating that they have exceptional cases and require social support," she pointed out.
FNC member Kifah Al Zaabi asked why the ministry only hands out financial allowances to divorcees who are 45 and above? Responding to it, the minister said there are many factors taken into consideration if the divorcee cannot find a job for a number of reasons.
Buhamid noted that until today, the ministry has issued social allowances to 2,319 divorcees under the age of 45.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com
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