More AIDS cases among UAE Indian workers

As many as six construction workers, hailing from Andhra Pradesh, have died due to AIDS in recent times.

Voluntary organisations have raised alarm over the growing number of AIDS cases among illegal Indian labourers in UAE.

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As many as six construction workers hailing from Andhra Pradesh, have died due to AIDS in recent times.

They have been cremated, except one person, who will be cremated after getting clearance from his family members and permission of local authorities, a spokesperson said.

"The plight of illegal labourers is sad," a social worker said adding companies extract maximum work from them and simply abandon them when they fall sick, The Gulf Today reported.

"The only way to solve the problem is to insure all the workers at the site," he said, adding that the Andhra Pradesh government should take measures to stop them coming on a 'visit' visa.

Scores of illegal Indian workers are desperately looking for medical treatment after being dumped by the construction companies in different hospitals in Sharjah and Dubai.

The Indian Consulate's Welfare Committee has been helping patients but the numbers are too large, an official said.

The Indian Consulate has written to the Andhra Pradesh government and the regional passport officer in Hyderabad urging them to discourage labourers from coming on 'visit' visa.