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ABU DHABI -- Gulf Arab states heavily dependent on an Asian labor force were expected to agree on Tuesday with labor-sending Asian countries to join forces against the exploitation of expatriate workers from Asia.
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) labor ministers and counterparts from Asia were to propose an action plan to improve the welfare of Asian workers, according to a draft of an Abu Dhabi Declaration.
The ministers have recommended the introduction within three months of a plan of action aimed at "preventing illegal recruitment practices" both at the country of origin and host countries, in the draft seen by Agence France-Presse.
The draft, expected to be endorsed later Tuesday, also calls for "promoting welfare and protection measures for contractual workers...and preventing their exploitation at origin and destination."
Emirati Labor Minister Ali al-Kaabi said at the start of meetings on Monday that "guest workers must be afforded the security that they will receive the benefits that they are entitled to."
The Abu Dhabi Labor Dialogue is the first of its kind to be held in a major labor-receiving country.
The meeting in the Emirati capital builds on the Asian Regional Consultative Process on Overseas Employment and Contractual Labor, known as the Colombo Process.
Set up in 2003, the Colombo Process groups Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam to initiate dialogue on overseas labor.
The six members of the GCC have a total population of 35 million people, around 13 million of whom are expatriates, mostly foreign laborers from Asian countries.
On Sunday, New York-based Human Right Watch (HRW) urged the meeting in Abu Dhabi to adopt measures to halt "widespread violations" of the rights of Asian expatriate workers.
"Both labor-sending and labor-receiving countries benefit from migration, but abuse of workers' rights remains rampant," HRW said.
