UAE Plans Law To Regulate NGOs

The UAE is drafting a federal bill to regulate activities of regional and international non-government organisations (NGOs), a UAE federal minister was quoted as saying by the state news agency WAM.

Speaking at one of the Federal National Council (FNC) sessions, Anwar Bin Mohammed Gargash, the UAE minister of state for Foreign Affairs and for Federal National Council Affairs said that the proposed legislation is expected to be ready by 2015.

“Regulating this process is very important and there should be a legal framework that takes into consideration aspects of sovereignty of the state,” said Gargash.

“For the time being there is no legislation that regulates activities of government and non-government organisations if they want to do so in the state.”

The minister was answering a question by a fellow FNC member about the government’s efforts to regulate the work of regional and international NGOs.

The UAE had previously shutdown offices of various international NGOs in 2012, saying that these groups had violated their terms of license.

NGOs who were shown the door were German foundation Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, US-based pro- National Democratic Institute and the Abu-Dhabi branch of research firm Gallup.

The UAE also led a crackdown on a number of domestic organisations, including some professional associations.

The Gulf state disbanded the Jurist Association, a lawyers’ group in 2011 and also refused to renew the license of the Gulf Research Centre – a group that sponsored social science research.