Deputy Editor of XPRESS goes undercover and exposes rampant recruitment racket in the United Arab Emirates.
Mazhar Farooqui, Deputy Editor of XPRESS, posted a resume that depicted him as the most worthless employee in the United Arab Emirates. Even so, he was offered all kinds of lucrative jobs. For only $81, the undercover editor was told by the “recruitment agency” Waseela near Sharjah City Centre that he could transfer to Canada to work in a veterinary hospital, or a zoo with elephants or any other number of animals.
They need trainers, lots of trainers they told him. But first he had to produce a processing fee. In an undercover operation, XPRESS revealed a handful of phony recruitment agencies in Dubai, Sharjah, and Ajman that charge illegal processing fees for jobs that do not exist. And because it is not a criminal offense, police claim to be powerless.
In order to expose the sheer audacity of this operation’s crimes, Farooqui included the following claims on various resumes posted throughout the UAE:
“I bring about a steady erosion of values and company ethics… and have hastened the doom of many companies in the past,” he wrote. “I make perilous graphics and inconsistent logos,” he added. But neither of these claims “put off a British company from taking (him) on board as graphic designer.”
Though Farooqi’s job applications were a sham, police report that at least once a day an ordinary job-seeker reports being duped by fraudulent recruiters.
“Aishwarya lodged a complaint with them on September 17, Hamid Raza on September 19 and Akbar Pirani on September 21,” according to XPRESS, who added that the victims were advised to file their complaints at the Sharjah court.
“We cannot do anything as this is not a criminal case,” a Sharjah policeman said on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, the paper reports that it is illegal to charge candidates a recruitment fee.
Complaints enumerated on www.complaintsboard.com name Dubai Gate, Al Aidy, Foreigners Employment, New Future, Waseela and others as businesses responsible for promising phony jobs with attractive salaries but with no follow-through.
An insider told the paper that the entire operation is run by one family and that employees are encouraged to reach a quota of nearly $7,000 each day.
Here is an account by Farrooqi of an experience with one phony recruitment center:
After walking out of Dubai Gate, I headed to Al Aidy Al Mahirah Employment & Management Consult Services who had advertised for the post of a sales executive.
“We’re conducting walk-in-interviews right now so you better hurry,” they told me over the phone as I drove down to their office in apartment No 301, Dubai Islamic Bank building on Sharjah’s King Abdul Aziz Road. Here, I was ushered into a room with a similar set-up as in Dubai Gate – several Asian women and lots of cellphones.
A woman who identified herself as Bushra went through my outrageous CV without so much as batting an eyelid.
“Impressive, you’re just the kind of candidate our client is looking for,” she said, nodding approvingly before asking me to pay Dh100 as registration fee. “You will get an interview call by tomorrow,” she promised.
I played along and handed her the money just as countless others have in the past.
Residents in the UAE should refuse to pay illegal recruitment fees and report employment scams by dialing 800-665.
:: Gulf News
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Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
Congrats Mazhar!
I am the journalist who blew their cover
Great work Mazhar!
I always wondered how one went about getting a job as an elephant trainer…