Indian president opens counseling centre for workers in UAE
AFP
DUBAI- Indian President Pratibha Patil opened on Tuesday in Dubai a counseling centre for Indians working in the United Arab Emirates, a day after a rights group urged her to address the "abuse" of migrant workers in the Gulf country.
"I am happy to launch today the Indian Workers Resource Centre (IWRC) which apart from assistance including counseling will provide a 24-hour helpline for workers," said Patil at the launch.
It will be the first of its kind outside India and aims "to serve the Indian workers community in the United Arab Emirates," officials at the centre have said.
On Monday the New York-based human rights watchdog urged Patil to "address the systematic abuse of migrant workers in the UAE and press for urgent labor reforms."
"For too long, the Indian government has simply treated these workers as sources of remittance income, with little attention to the abuse and exploitation they endure," Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said in a statement.
The rights group also called on Patil to "seek stronger protection for domestic workers, who remain particularly vulnerable to abuse as they remain isolated in private homes and excluded from UAE labour laws."
The UAE has been repeatedly criticised for the poor living and working conditions of foreign labourers, most of whom are from south Asia.
Patil arrived Sunday night in the UAE.
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