Yearbook 2007
United Arab Emirates. In November, the human rights
organization Human Rights Watch criticized the United Arab
Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Lebanon for their
treatment of female migrant workers from Sri Lanka.
According to
CountryAAH, the women, who work as maids,
are often locked up, beaten and subjected to sexual abuse.
Their working hours are rarely regulated and their pay can
be equivalent to one or two kronor per hour. Anwar Gargash,
representative of the United Arab Emirates government,
dismissed the criticism, saying that the United Arab
Emirates has improved the working conditions of the maids.
The Emirate of Abu Dhabi and France agreed in March that
Abu Dhabi would build a branch for the French Art Museum
Louvre. Just for the right to use the name "Louvre Abu
Dhabi", the emirate paid the equivalent of SEK 3.7 billion.
The branch is scheduled to open in 2012.
In June, the United Arab Emirates signed an agreement
with US aircraft manufacturer Boeing to open an aviation
industrial research and development center in Abu Dhabi. It
is reported that the United Arab Emirates would invest at
least SEK 32 billion in the project.
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