GCC ministers of labor recommend 6 year limit on expats :: Gulf News

Quote:

Manama : GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al Attiyah yesterday said that the recommendation by the ministers of labour to limit foreigners' contracts to six years was made to preserve the long-term interests of the Gulf states.
. . .
The Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) said in a press statement that it "appreciated the significance of the recommendation in light of the growing pressure from international organisations to help expatriates settle in the GCC states and enjoy rights equal to those of their citizens and the subsequent economic, social, demographic, political and security implications."
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The ministers attributed the setting of the time limit to the need to adopt steps to curb the growing social and economic threat posed by the presence of more than 12 million foreigners working in the six member states who remit about $30 billion annually.

At the GCC meeting, Al Attiyah said that the issue of foreign labour was no longer economic and warned that it amounted to a national security matter that needed urgent and practical action.

Emphasis added.

Region-specific human capital seems to have little value in the GCC. Or shall I say it is undervalued by the GCC.