The new Ethiopian ambassador to the UAE, Mr. Tebege Berhe, will work on labor rights for Ethiopian workers, trade and cultural exchange between the two countries.
ABU DHABI, U.A.E. (The National)–An agreement between the UAE and Ethiopia to protect the rights of domestic workers will be formalized by the year’s end, Ethiopia’s new ambassador announced.
The agreement is one of several that Ethiopia has made with other Middle Eastern countries after a series of high-profile cases in the region of abuse of domestic workers.
“It’s very important for the rights of domestic workers and at the same time for employers,” said the incoming ambassador Tebege Berhe.
“You know it’s always good to have a legal framework to work with.”
The process is currently under final review. “A lot of it has to do with making sure that both legal systems are compatible,” Tebege Berhe said. “With everything we sign up to, we have to make sure every article is consistent.
“Whether they sign it there or here, it has to be consistent with the laws in both countries and this is something that lawyers and experts in those areas are discussing to see how we can get a common understanding on all the issues,” he said. “We don’t have major issues in terms of the majority of the content of the agreements because we’ve been discussing it, so everything is OK. We just have maybe one or two final points.”
The new agreement will be legally applicable in the UAE and Ethiopia. Currently, domestic workers sign set contracts issued by the government in Ethiopia but the laws have no force once they travel overseas.
In the UAE, President Sheikh Khalifa signed a law in September that guarantees domestic workers a day off, holiday pay and limited working hours.
The framework will ensure that workers rights are protected in both countries and that women are aware of these rights.
“There’s no other legal contracts or legal agreements between the two countries to say what is a right and what is an obligation,” Tebege Berhe said.
“There are good legal systems in the UAE to take care of their rights but if something happens, she doesn’t know who to report to, she doesn’t know who to talk to, she doesn’t even know she has a right to do that,” he said. “She does not know, so she’s completely in the dark.”
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Tebege….Mr. Berhe,
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