Dubai Police Chief Warns Firms Over Sacking of Emiratis

Equality between people in rights & obligations.
There is a worldwide crisis.... Millions of people are loosing their jobs ....
In Dubai Thousands of foreign employees are loosing their jobs ....
laying off employees should be based on the performance & cost/ effectiveness .... Nationality does not matter

In Dubai laying of employees is a police case? Maybe people should start to think twice before opening a business there.

This is actually most absurd.

Since has this issue become a 'police matter'?

I mean, come one, give us a break. Its a different thing if a prominent government official does comment on the issue and its another thing if a police officer threatens the companies.

Obviously this is just a case of 'trying to get media mileage' or 'riding on the issue for some relevance'..... in the case of this officer.

Why don't he let the Ministry of Labor do their job and him, focus on peace and order!

One thing is for sure once landed into their web, there is no escape by sea ,land or by air, if any lobour is redunt or lost his job no matter , but emarati should not lose any job, whether he or she capable of performance, for this govt is not offering in compensation and salary catagory Masha Allah, Other national can survive save and can send back to his country, whereas salary not enough all benefit are waived off , still not upto mark? Apart from that this kind of bullying.as if you have broken the law of the country and you will prosecuted in 10 counts.

Dear Mr Khalfan ,Its high time that senior officers and renound UAE nationals who are holding positions and form the esteem work army for His Highness ,should start working rather than just making flse statements to impress His Highness and secure their jobs . Stop this unrequired buttering and come to in the open to see how people like us are sufferring . Because of people like your respected self ,who are termed to be Police chiefs and yet have a treatment of disparity within nationalities and communities ! I suggest that throw all expats out of your country and see the Emirate to be the last to come out of the ongoig crisis . A police chief threatening sends a very wrong message to public at large .

Majid - I'm all for a country's right to protect the rights of it's citizens. The government of the UAE is doing an excellent job in doing this.

The police threatening local businesses over the unemployment of it's UAE nationals is appalling though. This statement is absurd in the fact that there is no proven business malpractice or illegal wrongdoing, unless it's against the law to fire UAE nationals, which again should be taken up by the Labour dept first. Not the police.

If you were the owner of a business and were forced to sack employees wouldn't you consider retaining those by profession and job role, who are in a better position to help the company sustain during this slump? Or would you give preference to one nationality (doesn't matter which one) and lose out on more valuable employees to your business needs?

What an interesting comment; "Asian are conquering"; Look who developed UAE and who is getting the benefits now? This question ask your senior UAE nationals about the past stories; you will find that how the expats contributed in the development of this country; otherwise it was only a desert without water.

Unfortunate and shameful statement of this officer without any cogent reason; and legal authority.

Shame on you Majid Shamsi.........what do you mean Asians conquering Dubai? Asians have come and worked Hard and made Dubai as a Beautiful City to Live and Work and you should be Thankful to them.

We all are absolutelt thankful to Sheikh Mohammad and Sheikh Khalifa for giving us an Opportunity to come here and work.

As far as sacking of Employees, the Good Employees will remein in the job and the bad ones will be sacked, irrespective of whether it is an Indian or a British or a UAE national.

Dhahi Kahlaf is always Threatening some one or the Other...
WHY?Senior Police officers should not make such comments at all.

Dubai relies on foreign workers, they buy cars from the dealerships, food from the supermarket, houses and apartments from the developers, please understand this is not personal. If you don’t like expats, that’s fine, but understand that your country depends on the money those expats contribute to the economy.

Protectionism doesn’t work, I run a recruitment consultancy that locates high level individuals for companies in various sectors, it is often reported to me that companies hire 1 expat to do the same amount of work as 3/4 locals. When is PR Dubai going to realise that if all expats were to leave tomorrow the country sink faster than the Titanic.

Additionally, If you build an economy on tourism, you need to be open and welcoming, hotels need to be affordable to the general public and not just the super rich, shops need to be “normal” and not just designer.

This is a time to be realistic, Dubai is often referred to as “Disney World”, not attached to reality, we all knew this was coming at some point, and the only way we’ll get thorough it is by working together and not becoming isolationist!!

My friend be fair .. imagine yourself in your country and not working ,laid off and in the same TIME people from all the world getting the job and in govenrment sectors not private.We have hundreds expats are in UAE government.In Europe which call themself a democratic had experienced many racist attacks against forigners (in Germany,France) and their percentage less than 10 % ...Be fair,and do'nt forget many became millioners bcs of this country and respect they get

...if such a responsible and high government official make comments in public like that, it means there is no law anyone from them can come and threaten you! no wonder why every thing go in their favour.

any clerk among them can say anyhting is this fair, what did prophet mohammed said on his last pilgrimage. No arab is superior to non-arab and non-arab to arab.

Streamlining of workforce is a very common policy adopted by employers worldwide - to walk through these troubled times; and Duabi cannot be an exception. We've seen that nationals and expats alike are losing their jobs - left, right, and center. What the government (Ministry of Labour) can do is to make it mandatory for employers to give 3 months notice period to any emarati if he/she is found to be redundant. C'mon, it's their country, it's the minimum that they can expect. We expats shouldn't crib for such 'social securities' as we aren't tax - payers. A senior official claims that Dubai is insulated to the worldwide crisis. The same person says that only 11 cars were impounded (Airport security officials have a different story to say)! The same person has now stooped to the level of threatening employers!!! This is simply ATROCIOUS. Please remember that the employer concerned here is none other than Al Futtaim, one of the oldest, biggest, and famed 'EMARATI' employer. Common sense says that whenever unwell, visit the doc at the first instance, take the pills and get yourself cured. If you stand atop a high rise & keep on shouting that "I'm fine, I'm okay, I'm alright" - you're only heading for bigger trouble. Same is the case here in Dubai. Sooner such officials accept the fact that all's not well, sooner they take corrective measures, sooner the atmosphere is cleared of doubts, suspicion and apprehension, the better chances of accelarating the process of recovery. As a responsible expat resident, this is all that I can pray for.

Great Now we are conquerers also?! Look Around Majid Al Shamsi, if there are no expatriates who will rent your flats? buildings, warehouses? Why do you think Germany, United States of America etc allow immigrants to come and settle in their country, even though they have a seizable population.

Its to bring in talent, intelligence, creativity, young entrerenuers, physic t, chemist, designers venture capitalist, laborers a spectrum of immigrants who drive their economy to new horizons.

Grow out of your shell, try and understand the ground realities, the economies that is going to save the entire world is not U.A.E or the middleast or USA but China & India, the so called "Conquerers" according to you.

With all due respect; learn something from your visionary leaders, don't ask what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.

It is strange to encourange expats to come and work here from so many different countries and then to threaten them!!! What about all the other people who have lost their jobs and are supporting their families back home?? Should the UAE govt not be responsible for them also?

.....

This zero - tollerance culture does nothing for the country as a whole. A positive change in attitude is greatly required.

I guess ,we should not accuse Mr MAJID AL SHAMSI ( the police officer )as he doing exactly what Mr Dahi Khalfan is doing in order to get noticed and please his seniors . There is a very popular term used by locals which means buttering (maska jaam ) . And thats exactly what he is doing !

I fully agree with L1 that if required , redundancy should be practiced at equlibrium which clearly means survival of the fittest !!

Ipaw power has actually stated the defination of fittest !

Is everything fine in Dubai? I suspect something is really heading to wrong direction!!!

Its not shame at all why let me explain you friends i am not a uae national or local i am also an expatriate.
1.Nowadays every person is earning for their families and they need that their families should have a better life chidrens should have Good education and trying to fulfill most of the needs of our family members what we can and after we fulfill their needs and we have extra than we will think to help others also suppose uncles or siblings etc but which come after our family.
2.To any leader of the world their people are their families for which they will do as much as they can do and Mr.DHAHI KHALFAN DID the same which is deserve to be done because as i said first our own family then others the same he did first his own people and than the rest so there is not a bit of shame in it.
3.Where ever you see in the whole world the priority and oppurtunity is given first to their own people and then to others so UAE is having the Right to support their own people first which is their national identity and then us.
4.SO MY FRIENDS WE SHOULD NOT BE JEALOUS BECAUSE OF THIS THAT WHY NATIONAL PEOPLE ARE SUPPORTED MORE THAN US SO JUST THINK THAT WHY YOU SUPPORT YOUR WIFE AND KIDS MORE THAN YOUR UNCLES AND OTHER RELATIVES WE SHOULD NOT BE JEALOUS THAT THEY ARE SUPPORTING THEIR PEOPLE.
DHAHI KHALFAN AFTER SAYING THIS SHOWS THAT HE IS ONE OF THE GOOD LEADER GOOD FATHER WHO REALLY TAKES CARE OF HIS CHILDRENS.
THANKS FRIENDS ANY MISTAKE IN ANY OF MY SENTENCE PLEASE FORGIVE ME.

@ Sohi: I truly hope for your good health that this is drafted as a joke. Otherwise I stronly encourage you to see a good doctor in due course.

warmest regards,

Who cares if the police commercially boycott a western MNC? Since most of the police are Yemeni, it will only be a few locals trying to make a stand. Locals getting laid off will be proportional to expats, unless a company believes that locals can offer a skill over and above their western counterpart. It only makes logical sense.

Quite emotional outburst of one’s feelings, which is easily understandable in such hard times.

Without pinpointing any comment and trying to keep one’s logic in check, I would try to mention that protecting it’s own native population is an obligation which every free country of the world is fulfilling in their respective ways.

If India, the biggest democracy in the world, can make new rules to keep Sonia Gandhi out of Prime Ministerial position because she is not a born Indian, or if Bal Thackeray can object and protest on other Indians to come and work in his state of Maharashtra, then I believe UAE have fullest right to protect it’s underperforming national workforce of less then 4%.

Can you realistically imagine any country in the entire world with over 95% of its total workforce comprising of expatriates? We do not want to end-up like Fuji with a foreigner elected as Prime Minister, where their natives had to opt for a coup to get back their country to their own citizens.

Sacking employees only on performance will be an ideal situation, but then again, we are not living in an ideal world, are we?

No matter how diverse UAE looks, their thinking is same like other GCC countries. They think of expats as slaves ignoring the real fact that UAE is built by expats.

What about Expats!!!!! It's ok to lay them off??? How many thousands of expats lost ther jobs in the past couple of months and UAE Government is acting as if Dubai economy is still heathy???
Now that 20.... yes only 20 Emaratis lost their jobs the Government is acting !!!!
Now companies will start laying off employees according to their nationalities!!! How UNFAIR is that!!! How can SHK MOE accept that!

It is in the national interest of any country to protect its citizens from any threat, including downsizing. Obama has stated clearly that he wants American jobs back. UK is clearly hinting at protecting its national workforce, and so are the rest of the nations. Asian countries like India has started to put in place measures to tide over the economic slum and has assured that lay-offs will not be encouraged.

U.A.E. is also acting in its best interest, for its people. Please do not overlook the fact that expats constitute 89% of the total population of this country. How generous would you want the U.A.E. government to be?

If you lose your jobs, you may return to your countries but if we lose our jobs, we will stick to them and not move an inch, expats would need to go not the locals. Al Futtaim has been held accountable and apologized to the locals who were fired and promised not to repeat his reprehensible and irresponsible action. The locals returned and expats were fired instead. This is our country and we are entitled to its fruits, not expats.

what we are talking about is just called RACISM.
What a shame!!!!!!

yes.. expats are 'packign and leaving' and u see then what will be left of Dubai! in a few months mate.

Short term panic actions/rules will have a long term bad effect on City claiming to harbor free enterprise..I hope Shk Mohamed put an end to the 'Police' interference in business operation..duabi isn't the only place suffering from this unique period of financial difficulties , in the future,Dubai & others must appreciate who stands with them during the bad period...!!

Expats having built the UAE from ground up is an overused and lame excuse that we expats use to feel some kind of entitlement by the government body here. Expats didn't build the country for free. They did get paid for it and shouldn't be entitled to anything else for it as far as they are concerned about it.

Why should the government of the UAE feel the need to give any less priority to it's expats than their own nationals? In the nature of business here the hiring of temporary staff is an accepted norm. These staff aren't entitled to any of the benefits that permanent staff are entitled to and would be first considered for shedding over permanent employees. Why is it difficult for us expats to understand the same situation in this case?

UAE National's comments make interesting reading and no one's really commented on them. Soad Alshehi, having stated he's a journalist, has taken a path with blinders on. The reality is that the national workforce can barely sustain the economy as is in terms of numbers in workforce and expertise. It'll take a very long time before you threaten others to leave like that and still expect to reap any fruit.

Expats were paid more than they deserve for mediocre performance, with this crisis it is time to get rid of all these poluttants that came to this country, most of the vacancies will be filled by the locals whether you like it or not. It is time to return to you respective countries, Remember that the UAE is not open for settlers or immigration.

The same can be said of a number of positions that are filled by locals as well. Given the current local population you're suggesting that you can do with no expat labour whatsoever and that's ridiculous.

As far as the UAE not being open for settlers and immigration are concerned you know that's also untrue. Everyone who's lived here long enough know that there are locals whose origins stem from non GCC arab countries and subcontinent.

This whole local vs expat debate is ridiculous. People being laid off jobs shouldn't have to be confined to nationality. Locals being offered a certain degree of protection to certain criteria is expected, but a blanket rule to rule it out entirely, at the risk to businesses is nonsensical.

You're completely missing the point. This article is not about making UAE another asian culture.

But if that's a reference then when referring to expats it's also fair to refer to expats of western nationalities. Why is there no mention of the lifestyle and culture that is being brought in my these nationalities? Dubai is being compared to the likes of Hong Kong, London and New York in more ways than just business. Do you want to reject these despite the advantages being reaped here?

Latifa - you want asian expats out of here yet organisations and government bodies actively seek manpower in these countries and bring them down to the UAE for their expertise. I know of atleast one government body that does this. If you want to rid the UAE of them then look within and don't lay blame on the expats alone. The UAE does this because the pluses clearly outweigh the negatives, which you are oblivious to.

There is hue and cry to get rid of asian expats from the likes of you. What will you do if they leave and how do you plan on furthering Shk Moe's ambitious plans without them in the picture? No one's answered this yet.

It is utterly disgraceful and embarrassing reading some of the harsh and insensitive comments made by my fellow UAE Nationals.

I most genuinely apologize to all expatriates for such irresponsible language used by a few of my countrymen.

I am a UAE National, but I can fully understand and empathize with the situation of our expatriate colleagues, and I would request all UAE Nationals to please try to be polite and compassionate with all expatriates and try to understand what many of them are going through.

Arabs in general and UAE in particular has been benevolent with all our 'guests' and this is what our forefathers as well as our religion teaches us. It will be grossly wrong and very regrettable on part of us locals, to sendoff these expatriate with the bad-taste and hard feelings. These peoples have not only contributed in the success of this country but most of them have sacrificed their youth in development and progress of UAE, it will be absolutely unfortunate not to respect and acknowledge their contributions.

UAE will always need the expatriates for it’s future growth, and even now only limited unfortunate expatriates are leaving due to job cuts, while a large number will continue to work and do their businesses without any problems.

Anyways, I think the less painful we make it for all, the better it will be.