GCC summit to take up issue of expat residency cap

ham

The GCC labour ministers’ council, convened in Geneva, had adopted a general approach for imposing a six-year cap on the stay of the expatriate workers in the Gulf states, the report pointed out.

However, the ministers also recommended the establishment of a joint committee to look into the specialised professions which would be exempted from the residency cap, including physicians, lawyers and consultants.

“Once the summit adopts the proposal, the member-states of the GCC would be given a grace period to change their legislations so that they can comply with it,” sources at the General Secretariat of the GCC was quoted as saying to the Saudi Al Yawm newspaper.

The proposal, submitted by the GCC ministers of labour to the Riyadh-based GCC general secretariat, could be included in the agenda of the Muscat summit as the General Secretariat is the body deciding on the drafts of resolutions of the summit.

The proposed cap on the stay of expatriate workers comes amid fears of them claiming rights of suffrage.

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *