Construction companies in the UAE have been issued a warning by the Ministry of Labour over labour camp overcrowding, after recent inspections showed that some firms had crammed over 40% more workers into camps in an attempt to cut costs.

Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting with private companies, Abdelrazaq Qambar, Chief Inspector for the Ministry of Labour said;

"When we started inspecting companies in the country and labour camps we expected to see them empty...But, on the contrary, labour camps are overcrowded due to companies looking to cut costs and keep staff in the UAE for when the situation improves.”

As the property market crash hits the UAE's construction sector, several companies inspected had also cut workers' meals from three to one per day, while many have put unwanted labourers on 'unpaid leave'

You can read the full story in Arabian Business here. There is also an excellent photostory here by The Guardian (UK) from a few months back, which offers glimpses of the squalid conditions that migrant labourers in the UAE face.