5. United Arab Emirates
Foreign born population: 7.826.981
Between 2000 and 2013 Asia experienced greater migrant influx than any other continent. During this period around 1.6 million migrants annually came to live in Asia, the majority of them choosing UAE as their place of residence. In 2013, almost 8 million foreign born residents lived in the United Arab Emirates, constituting 83.7 percent of the country’s population, which represents the greatest share of migrants in total population in the world. Low skilled as well as high educated migrants come to UAE in search for employment and high living standard. However, many of them, especially low educated foreigners, became victims of modern day slavery. Last year Human Rights Watch published a report about abuse and exploitation of female migrant workers, while media extensively reported on inhumane conditions in which construction employees work. In response to growing allegations of violations of workers’ rights Ministry of Labor introduced new unified labor contract that should better protect non-native employees.
