Police in Dubai arrested around 100 Vietnamese construction workers for going on strike over unpaid wages earlier this month (full article here)

The workers formed part of a group of 200 workers of various nationalities who marched to the Ministry of Labour to demand their rights. Those who were taken into police custody had allegedly been arrested because they stayed at the scene of the march after it had concluded. The workers are now being held at various locations in the Emirate, and the labour attache of the Vietnamese Embassy in Abu Dhabi is following up on the case.

Each worker was reportedly owed several months' wages, totaling around US$1360.

The global financial crisis has hit the real estate and construction sector in the GCC countries hard, resulting in losses of jobs, and all too frequently, unpaid wages - see this story about construction workers in Mecca striking over unpaid wages.