Police step in to help repatriate stranded workers

The 850 abourers were unable to fly home because their employer did not give them airline tickets.

DUBAI // The Dubai Police's short-term labour inspection section has helped repatriate 850 workers who were unable to leave the country because their company did not provide them with airline tickets, police said yesterday.

Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the director of the higher committee for labour crises and Chief of Dubai Police, ordered the section to contact the company's management to discuss the workers' conditions.

After negotiations, the company provided air tickets worth Dh950,000, police said.

The workers were brought to the UAE on temporary contracts and left without financial resources after their work contracts expired, according to police. The company's financial status apparently worsened after a manager fled the country with the firm's money, police said.

Col Mohammed Abdullah al Morr, of the Dubai police, said a large number of the employees had already left. Col al Morr said Lt Gen Tamim's instructions were clear: it was entirely the company's responsibility to take care of its workers from the day they arrived until the day they left the country.

He said the section was set up in February 2009 to closely observe the conditions of workers in the UAE on temporary contracts.