Business centers in the United Arab Emirates have long been the mediating forces between the private sector firms, Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) as well as migrant workers. They were very important to the labor system in the country because of their involvement in visa processing, documentation and helping with Emiratisation compliance. Nevertheless, in 2025, there has been accumulating evidence that some of these centers, as well, have turned into labor exploitation and human trafficking networks.
These centers have been associated with a high number of falsified Emiratisation records where Emirati citizens are enrolled in non-existent positions to satisfy the employment quotas. These practices compromise national labor efforts aimed at providing a significant role for Emiratis in the labor market. Simultaneously, the same middlemen have been reported to be involved in exploitative practices of recruiting migrant workers of low income.
Facilitating Fake Emiratisation for Compliance
Emiratisation policy has the intention of including the UAE nationals into the workforce in the activities of the private sector by enforcing employment quotas in industries. However, the research carried out by the MoHRE in 2025 revealed a total of 405 fake cases of Emiratisation, with most of them being associated with the private business centers. These organizations supposedly established unrealistic employment agreements or enrolled Emiratis under so-called ghost jobs, those who were included in payroll lists but not actually working.
These schemes are indicative of compliance gaps in the system. They enable firms to seem to be in line with national policies and avoid actual inclusion of workforce. The officials of the MoHRE have claimed that the manipulation of the Emiratisation numbers misrepresent the labor statistics and decelerates the reforms efforts of providing fair employment opportunities to the citizens.
Enabling Human Trafficking and Labor Exploitation
These centers have been known to be involved in human trafficking and labor exploitation in tandem with fabricated Emiratisation programs. In 2025, reports were made on how workers were being defrauded by being swindled with fake employment opportunities, paying them illegal recruitment fees, and having their passports seized once they reached the UAE. The migrants are most impacted by these abuses since they constitute about 95 percent of the UAE labor force and a significant portion of them work in construction, services, and housekeeping.
This exploitation is usually as a result of the kafala system of sponsorship which links the residency status of a worker to his employer. This system limits the freedom of movement and sets up an environment where workers fear to report abuse under the fear of being deported or losing their earnings. The dependency model, although reformed time and again, still gives power to the intermediaries, some of them being business centers, who take advantage of the gaps in the bureaucracy.
Structural Vulnerabilities Within the UAE Labor Market
In the kafala system, any important documents such as passport and exit permission are kept by the sponsor. Even though the authorities in the UAE have embarked on the reform process to restrict these powers, they have not been implemented consistently. Hierarchy of the system leads to some form of forced labor and it does not allow the workers to have effective remedies.
The Kafala System’s Enduring Impact
These vulnerabilities are also compounded by weak enforcement mechanisms. The labor inspectors are challenged by the fact that there are thousands of registered business centers and most of them are run by shadowy ownership structures. This has been found through investigations that fraudulent documentation and unregistered sub-contracting, complicate tracking accountability.
Oversight Gaps and Compliance Failures
Weak enforcement mechanisms further compound these vulnerabilities. Labor inspectors face challenges in monitoring thousands of registered business centers, many of which operate under opaque ownership structures. Investigations have shown that fraudulent documentation and unregistered sub-contracting make tracing accountability complex.
Enforcement and Legal Challenges
Although the UAE has passed liberal labor legislation in the last ten years, it is not well implemented throughout the emirates. In other instances, there was a delay in the imposition of penalties on the business centers engaged in either trafficking or false hiring because of the complicated procedures. According to the experts, the lack of inter-agency coordination on a regular basis of such enforcement may contribute to the continuation of systemic abuse.
According to the legal analysts, the decentralization of control between federal and local agencies results in duplication of duties with little accountability. Also, most of the labor disagreements are solved by way of mediation and this does not deter massive fraud schemes.
Government Response and Policy Developments in 2025
At the beginning of 2025, the government of the UAE published Cabinet Decision No. (43), which officially lays down those penalties, which are imposed on the organizations involved in the activities connected with fake Emiratisation or human trafficking. By the regulation, the fines of up to Dh10 million and the permanent revocation of the licenses against repeat violators is authorized.
Expanding Digital Monitoring and Field Inspections
MoHRE increased the application of digital surveillance tools and field audits in order to identify anomalies in employment records. The new sophisticated data systems now compare the payroll returns with the employment data to detect discrepancies that are a sign of fraudulent hiring. This online system is more transparent and makes it possible to conduct special inspections.
Public Warnings and Stakeholder Engagement
The Ministry has also issued several public warnings to the business centers and the employers, reminding them of a zero-tolerance approach to human trafficking and fake Emiratisation. Collaborations with the organizations of the private sector and global labor agencies are also being increased in order to promote compliance.
Highlighting Media and Public Accountability
The Khaleej Times which is among the top news sources in the UAE extensively covered such developments and it provided insight into how the fake schemes of Emiratisation and labor exploitation had taken root in some business activities. The report was keen to point out that new regulations were aimed at breaking down networks that misused the labor policies in the guise of compliance. It emphasized the determination of the Ministry to introduce tougher punishment, and more frequent inspections, and online tools to enhance transparency to protect Emirati employment and the rights of migrant workers.
Another point that the publication outlined is that such actions represent the wider goal of the UAE to harmonize its labor market practices with international standards, and thus indicated a change in the need to react to the problem to actively prevent it.
Broader Implications for the UAE’s Economic and Human Rights Strategy
On Khaleej Times, read the complete report. With the UAE diversifying its economy, the vision 2031 program, labor integrity emerges as one of the characteristics to maintain international confidence. Constant human rights issues may discourage the foreign investment, especially to the jurisdictions with a focus on corporate social responsibility and ethical sourcing.
The Reputation Factor
Publicity over counterfeit Emiratisation and human trafficking represents a reputational problem to a country that has established itself as a symbol of modernization and economic innovations. These problems will be resolved in a decisive manner when it is possible to judge whether the UAE will remain a progressive and fair labor destination in the world.
The Path Toward Sustainable Reform
The reformers suggest that the integration of the worker protection measures into the conceptual framework of the labor system is the key to effective reform and should be based on more than regular raids. Increased training of workers, open career advancement programs and a clear grievance redressal program are key to ensuring that there is some meaningful progress.
Aligning Legal Accountability with Labor Rights Protection
Strengthening accountability will be a major concern in averting further abuses. Better inter-agency coordination, including the collaboration of the source countries, would facilitate investigations of fraud in relation to recruitment. It would also be useful to have independent monitoring bodies to increase oversight and transparency with a representation of the labor rights bodies.
The UAE’s ongoing transition toward a knowledge-based economy demands an equally modernized labor ecosystem, one that prioritizes human dignity alongside productivity. A sustainable approach would involve not only enforcing penalties but also fostering a culture of corporate responsibility among employers and intermediaries.
The 2025 crackdown on business centers involved in fake Emiratisation and human trafficking marks a decisive moment in the UAE’s labor policy evolution. While the government’s firm response demonstrates increasing commitment to transparency and ethical governance, the success of these efforts will depend on sustained enforcement and systemic reform. As global attention intensifies on labor conditions in the Gulf, the UAE’s challenge lies in transforming short-term corrective measures into enduring protections that uphold both national employment goals and international human rights standards.