Dubai turns away ‘lack of skills’ Thai workers
A group of 12 Thai men who were promised work by a job placement agency in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, returned to Thailand yesterday after they were told that they had not passed a skills test.
This brought the number of Thais refused by a firm in Dubai to 31 after the return of a first group on Saturday. It has been reported that many other Thai jobseekers have faced the same fate in Dubai. Referring to the first group of 19 men, Anurak Thossarat, acting Employment Department chief, said that his department had cooperated with immigration police to oversee them.
According to Anurak, the group traveled to Dubai to work as welders with an oil company. They received their positions through a job-placement agency, and their employers flew to Thailand to conduct skills tests. The Thais passed the tests before traveling to Dubai. However, once they were there, the employers wanted them to work in another position.
They were given a further skills test which they did not pass. The employers allegedly terminated the Thais’ contracts without notifying them in advance and refused to pay their salaries. Anurak said the Labour Ministry’s representative in Dubai had helped negotiate with the employers, who later agreed to pay some pending money to the Thais. The Employment Department will help facilitate their return to Thailand and offer them legal advice if they want to pursue the case. It is believed that another group of about 20 Thais who were refused jobs in Dubai is expected to return to Bangkok tomorrow. Source: Nation
