The UAE has denied it will ban expat workers with conditions such as diabetes.
The United Arab Emirates has denied it will ban expat workers with chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Last week Saudi Arabia’s Arab News announced all six GCC member states would only hire medically fit expat workers, reports the Khaleej Times.
Assistant Undersecretary at the Ministry of Health, Dr Hussain Abdul Rahman has told the Khaleej Times that ‘nothing of the sort’ is going to happen in the UAE. The Arab News site quoted Director-General of the Gulf Health Ministers Council, Tawfik Khoja, as saying the GCC member countries “have jointly decided not to recruit workers suffering from chronic diseases”.
Although the news source claimed it was a joint decision between GCC members, the UAE MoH denies this. There are thousands of people living in the UAE who suffer with diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions. This is “not a new problem and therefore expat workers will not be affected”, Abdul Rahman stressed.
Currently, a health check is mandatory for those applying for a work visa in the UAE. This is the case for all GCC countries. However, the test and the chronic diseases that may mean you are deported differ from country to country.
“For instance in the UAE a medical test is mandatory for affixing a residence visa. Any person showing positive results for a chronic diseases as per the list of diseases classified by the UAE as chronic disease, is refused visa to reside in the UAE,” said Ashish Mehta, a lawyer practicing in Dubai.
There are discussions underway for GCC member states to have a universal list of chronic conditions and illnesses that would result in the refusal of work visas. This uniform policy would make it easier when applying to work in the Gulf region.