‘Don’t give job visas to women on visit’

■ India has asked the UAE to prevent Indian women workers coming on visit visas from getting employment visas here, India’s Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swara said in Abu Dhabi last evening.

Workers migrating through illegal channels end up with many troubles. “Women among them are the worst affected,” she said.

Addressing the Indian community at the Indian Social and Cultural Centre (ISC) in the capital, Swaraj said women workers migrating on tourist/visit visas are often exploited by unscrupulous agents (in India) and employers abroad. Therefore, the Indian government is trying to prevent such women from travelling on tourist/visit visas and requested the UAE not to permit them to get employment visas if they arrive here, the minister said.

She said India has rescued around 233,000 Indian workers who were suffering hardships across the globe in the past four years and urged Indian workers to go through legal channels (India’s eMigrate system that controls migration of vulnerable workers) for foreign employment. “Those who use illegal channels often do not know where are they heading to. They don’t know their rights and protective measures available to them,” she said.