Immigrants in Qatar and the UAE: Laws and Regulations. The Threat of Unemployment vs. the Concern for Social Identity

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Introduction: On the Immigration Issue

Because of their specific labor force or, to be more exact, the large quantity and the peculiar source of their labor force, the Gulf Cooperation Countries have developed a unique and rather non-flexible approach towards its legal immigrant population, which has resulted in a complicated situation in such countries as Doha and Dubai.

Focusing on the issues of immigration in general and the complexities which the GCC countries have in relation to the issue of immigration in particular, the given paper provides a detailed account of the current state of affairs within the above-mentioned states, as well as suggests certain measures which can possibly improve the existing situation.

Indeed, if taking a closer look at the above-mentioned states, one will notice that they share a number of common features, such as the fact that the native representatives of the Doha and Dubai culture are only in the 20 percent isle (Facts on File, Inc. 210), while the rest are immigrants. It is also important to add that both Doha and Dubai are ranked pretty high on the list of the states with a relatively high complex index on the efficacy of law as compared to the rest of the states all over the world.

Taking a closer look at the two above-mentioned facts, one can possibly find a relation between them; to put it simpler, it can be theorized that the immigration into the countries of the GCC has had its impact on the existing laws in the Gulf countries. The given discovery raises a lot of questions, among which the concern for the laws in the countries where the native population is fewer than the number of immigrants can be mentioned.

To start with, it is necessary to keep in mind that there are a range of similarities between Qatar and the UAE. With immigrants making the bulk of their population and their capitals, Doha and Dubai, being among the world’s leaders, these two share a number of similar features.

However, there are also a couple of differences between the two megalopolises, especially when reconsidering the driving force behind them. While Doha remains the cultural heart of Qatar, Dubai bets on its technological advances; and, to their credit, with this approach, both cities benefit from their actual assets. In addition, the economical progress of Doha seems somewhat slackened, while Dubai, quite on the contrary, rushes at a very fast pace.

However, there is not much distinction between the cities to be made when speaking of the economical approach which they undertake – both seem to have chosen a more globally-oriented type of economical policy to run the state. In the light of the globalization, the given approach seems more than reasonable; once the GCC countries meet the standards of the European countries, they will be able to enter the world market easily.

The key topic of the given research is to figure out whether the increase of the number of immigrants and the fact that the current labor force in a lot of the GXX countries is practically made of immigrants has anything to do with the change of laws within the county and whether the changes in the country legislation will become even more drastic once the number of immigrants increases.

In addition, the given paper will also address such issues as the development of the political regulations in the GCC countries in general, as well as the issues which the fusion of the traditional Western and more exotic non-Western laws can lead to. The given paper aims at proving the fact that in the cities like Dubai or Doha, because of the attempts to keep up with the European countries and to provide the necessary laws and regulations which the immigrant workers demand, the economy and the political state of affairs is at risk.

The Methods of Research and the Data Collection

To provide an adequate response to the issues raised above, the method of an academic research has been chosen; with the help of the given paper format, it will be possible not only to evaluate the major features of the GCC countries concerning such fields as culture, religion, economy and language, but also to provide a detailed account of the countries which the immigrants come from.

Hence, the key problems concerning the immigrant labor and the reforms which have to be made for the GCC society to remain as integrated as it is now, can be outlined. In addition, the previous reforms in the given spheres, as well as their impact on the current situation, can be traced.

Literature Review: Embracing the Existing Ideas

Before exploring the issue in question, one must mention that there is little evidence as for the instances in which the rights of the immigrant workers in Doha and Dubai or any other city of the countries in GCC were infringed. Even though there are a number of researches on immigrant labor forces in the GCC countries, these studies are still focused on different issues, and the change of regulations related to the influx of the immigrant labor forces is often not the main focus of these papers.

However, it is worth mentioning that, when considered altogether, these papers help create a vivid picture of the state of affairs within the GCC countries. Incorporating the information from the Census Bureau and other related sources, the statistical data offers a lot of food for thoughts.

Exploring the Gulf Region: Migration and the Related Issues

Viewpoints: Migration and the Gulf.

The source mentioned above offers a range of papers on the policies towards immigrants in the GCC countries; one of the most important issues concerning the given source is that the papers were written solely by the scholars who specialized in Middle Eastern studies and, to be more exact, on the studies concerning the infringements of human rights in the GCC countries.

In every paper, there is a different problem concerning immigrants’ rights depicted, and an adequate solution of the problem is offered. The given research deals with the amount of immigrant workers in the GCC, as well as on the policies which are executed to regulate the immigrant workforce and the probable future reforms.

Across the South Asia: Changing Location in Search for Employment

Labour migration, employment and poverty alleviation in South Asia.

In contrast to the previous paper, Khatri’s one can be classified as a report; it summarized in a nutshell the state of affairs within the GCC countries on the issue of immigrant’s employment.

Among the issues which the report highlights, the countries which have the greatest amount of immigrants are listed, and the key objectives for meeting the high standards of life for immigrants are set. Which is even more important, the report makes it clear that the authorities took care for the newly adopted reforms to align with the interests of the native residents of the state.

According to the results summary offered in the report, the key solution which the Regional Seminar on labour and migration came up with was to check the incoming information from the countries of immigrants’ origin and sending the inquiries concerning the specified information to analyze the recurrent instances of immigrants’ abuse and to figure out what course of actions should be drawn to address the situation with immigrants’ rights infringement in the GCC states.

Along Qatar and UAE: Immigration Laws and Regulations

The legal regulation of migrant workers, politics and identity in Qatar and the UAE by David Mednicof.

The paper by Mednicof addresses the question set in the given research, i.e., the role which the immigrant force plays in the establishment of new laws for the Qatar and UAE society, as well as the political regulations which the existing immigrant force bends in the UAE and Qatar.

It is quite impressive that the given paper summarizes the effect of the Qatar and UAE immigrant force on not only the legislative and the social life of the local residents, but also on such aspects as globalization and national identity, the labor markets and the state’s politics, etc.

While the paper by Mednicof allows to consider the effects of the immigrant culture on the one of the Arabian states, and, therefore, provides a broader vision of the situation, it also manages to nail down the specifics of the UAE and Qatar comparative politics towards immigrants.

Literature Analysis and Conclusions: The Essentials

The key idea which the given paper aims at proving is the fact that because of the discrepancies in the current politics of the Gulf countries towards immigrants, the Qatar and UAE officials are most likely to come up with the solutions which can be defined as informal instead of making sure that the government should come up with specific laws to regulate the existing complexities concerning the immigrants.

As a result of long and scrupulous observations which are carried out in the process of globalization and controlled by both those in power and the citizens of the countries, the leaders of UAE and Qatar do everything possible to both show their loyalty to the customs and traditions of the local people and at the same time come up with the solutions which can be supported by the international standards of immigration laws (Commins 299).

Therefore, it is quite understandable that the immigration standards which are commonly accepted in the UAE and Qatar do not correspond with the ones of the people of the European countries; one of the most graphic examples of the inconsistencies between the Asian immigrant laws and the European ones is the concern about the human rights for the immigrant workers, which is a commonly accepted idea in the European states and which is, unfortunately enough, not such common practice in the Asian countries (Oxford Business Group 300).

It is also reasonable to mention that within the GCC in general and UAE and Qatar in particular, a peculiar phenomenon can be observed. While the GCC countries seem to have been following the ideas of the global law and have changed their laws correspondingly so that they could be more in line with the ones adopted at the global stage (Ahmad 112), in the UAE and Qatar, the laws have been changed so that the rights of the immigrant workers would not be infringed anymore; hence, the changes within the UAE and Qatar were more particular and were aimed at solving a certain problem, while in the rest of the GCC states, the change of law looked more like a compromise between the Arabian and the European laws.

Nevertheless, it seems that the situation in Doha contradicts the existing laws on immigration and conflicts with the general idea of the rights of immigrant workers, which means that the state can be sued for a public offense (United Nations). All in all, it appears that Dubai follows the traditional European pattern much closer than Doha does, which poses a serious threat to the reputation of Doha among the rest of the countries, as well as among the states of the GCC.

Analyzing the above-mentioned situation, it is necessary to admit that there have been a number of premises to lead to the existing differences between the policies towards immigrants within Doha and the ones that are provided in Dubai. The first and the foremost one to be mentioned is the difference in the state of economy within each of the countries.

While the economy of Dubai suffered greatly as a result of the 2008 crisis, Doha was not influenced by the crisis that much (Zufle 5), which made the latter considerably less dependent on the European countries and, therefore, more prone to the impact of the latter. In addition, the fact that the UAE are trying to play the role of a more cosmopolitan and open to reforms place; hence comes the argument that Dubai should follow the rules which the European countries set.

Another reason which makes the Dubai officials less reluctant towards the changes on the immigrant policies is that UAE thrives on tourism and, therefore, keeping in pace with Europe, which most of the tourists came from, was rather profitable (Tillery). In addition, the oil issues are also to be brought up as the ultimate factor that made the UAE choose in favor of more western type of regulations.

According to the statistical data, Dubai’s natural resources are rather scanty, apart from oil, which makes a good case for establishing trade relationships with the rest of the states, while Qatar has been striving on its plentiful resources for quite long, thus, managing to stay quite independent from the European influence.

Hence, it is crucial for Dubai at present that the experience with immigrants should turn out successful and that the rights of the immigrant workers should correspond to the standards of the European countries. To retain its reputation among the rest of the states, the UAE will have to offer the immigrated workforce the same rights and freedoms which the latter can enjoy in any of the European countries; thus, the UAE will be able to become a full-fledged partner of Europe when it comes to trade and other related business issues.

Works Cited

Ahmad, Ehtisham. Fiscal Reforms in the Middle East: Vat in the Gulf Cooperation Council. Cheltenham, UK: Edwar Elgar Publishing, 2010. Print.

Commins, David. The Gulf States: A Modern History. New York City, NY: IB Tauris, 2012. Print.

Facts on File. Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing, 2009. Print.

Khatri, Sridhar K. 2007, Labour migration, employment and poverty alleviation in South Asia. Web.

Mednicof, Davis n. d. The Legal Regulation of Migrant Workers, Politics and Identity in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Web.

Oxford Business Group. The Report: Qatar 2011. Oxford, UK: Oxford Business Group, 2011. Print.

Tillery, Kharmika 2012. Recommendations for Migrant Labor Reform in Qatar to Fulfill the U.S. Foreign Policy Objective of Greater Respect for Human Rights In the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries. PDF file. Web.

United Nations. Report of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families: Fifth Session (30 October – 3 November 2006), Sixth Session (23-27 April 2007). Geneva, SW: United Nations Publications, 2007. Print.

Viewpoints: Migration and the Gulf. 2010, PDF file. Web.

Zufle, Nataly. The Doha Agreement for Lebanon: Analysis of a Negotiation Situation from Contemporary International Relations. New York, NY: GRIN Verlag, 2011. Print.

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