Emirates: harsh prison sentences against Bengali workers

Featured image: Bangladeshi workers took the streets; Soruce: Countercurrents

It has been reported that just three days after their arrest an Emirati court condemned 57 Bangladeshi workers to prison terms ranging from 10 years to life. No provision for a fair trial or the right to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of their defence were granted.

The UAE authorities persist in depriving immigrants living within its borders, who make up approximately 86% of the nation’s population and are predominantly from South Asian nations, of fundamental rights. These negated rights include the freedom of peaceful assembly, and freedom of association, including the right to form and join unions`, to protest, as well as to file a lawsuit against decisions regarding arrest and deportation on an individual or collective basis, and even hire legal representation and interpretation services.

On Monday, 22 July 2022, the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal sentenced three of the accused to life imprisonment for calling for demonstrations and inciting riots. Another 53 defendants received 10-year prison terms, with one, who “entered the country illegally and participated in the riot”, being sentenced to 11 years. The Court also ordered their deportation at the end of their prison terms.

The alleged ‘crimes’ also included “deliberately disrupting transportation, calling for and inciting these demonstrations, and recording and disseminating audiovisual footage of these acts online, which constitute offences against State security and public order, and jeopardise the UAE’s interests”.

The Bengali workers’ protests in the UAE driven by the harsh exploitation they are confronted with coincided with large demonstrations in their country against the quota system for public-sector jobs, which gives veterans’ relatives up to 30% of government jobs. The number of Bangladeshi workers detained as a result of the protest was not disclosed.