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The
sovereign wealth funds accumulated
by oil-rich Arab sheikdoms is
reported as much as $4.5 trillion to
$7 trillion today. The exact amount
is impossible to ascertain due to
lack of their transparency and
accountability.
Abu Dhabi is the largest and
wealthiest of the seven emirates in
the UAE. It owns 10 per cent of the
world's proven oil and gas reserves.
The emirate owns 95 per cent of the
oil and gas reserves of the UAE. The
country is presently earning record
oil revenues rolling in at a rate of
$225-million (U.S.) a day.
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, the
world's largest government
controlled investment pool, is
estimated to have assets worth over
$1000 billion (U.S.). The emirate is
controlled by Sheikh Khalifa bin
Zayed Al Nahyan, son of late
dictatorial ruler of United Arab
Emirates 'Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al
Nahyan". ... More (UAE Facts)
BACKGROUND:
AB 1967 would have prevented
California's retirement systems from
contributing to regimes with
terrible human rights records by
making new investments or renewing
investments with private equity
firms such as the Carlyle Group,
which is partly owned by a sovereign
wealth fund affiliated with the UAE.
There is growing concern among
elected officials and the public
about sovereign wealth funds (i.e.
government investment vehicles), in
particular about these funds'
frequent lack of transparency and
about the advisability of foreign
governments having ownership stakes
in defense companies and critical
infrastructure such as roads,
bridges and airports. There is also
concern that sovereign wealth funds
may be more likely to invest in
order to achieve political rather
than profit-maximizing goals,
increasing the risk of financial
instability. In addition to the
heightened risks these investments
face, it is unconscionable for
California to invest the retirement
funds of its public workers for the
benefit of egregious human rights
violators. Many sovereign wealth
funds are affiliated with and earn
profits for governing regimes with
human rights records that are among
the worst in the world.
Three of the largest sovereign
wealth funds, which together control
more than $500 billion in assets,
are affiliated with the United Arab
Emirates, an emirate whose
government, according to the State
Department, has "severely restricted
workers' rights" The State
Department has also cited evidence
of "significant additional human
rights problems" in the United Arab
Emirates, including arbitrary and
incommunicado detention, human
trafficking, legal and societal
discrimination against women, and
government-imposed restrictions on
civil liberties, among others.
Public retirement systems in
California currently invest with the
Carlyle Group, a Washington D.C.
based private equity firm. In 2007,
the Carlyle Group sold a 7.5% stake
in its management and operations to
the Mubadala Development Company, an
arm of Abu Dhabi, one of the seven
countries that comprise the UAE. In
addition to the $1.35 billion
investment, the Abu Dhabi fund
agreed to invest a further $500
million into Carlyle's buyout funds.
AB 1967 would prevent California's
retirement systems from undermining
human rights by making new
investments or renewing investments
with private equity firms such as
the Carlyle Group, which is partly
owned by a sovereign wealth fund
affiliated with the UAE.
SEIU is 1.9 million members united
to improve services not only in our
communities throughout North America
but also with our counterparts
around the world to help ensure that
workers, not just corporations and
CEOs, benefit from today's global
economy.
000000
UAE. Human rights campaigners have
called on the Scottish parliament to
prevent Dubai from investing in one
of Scotland's most prestigious golf
courses because of alleged "abuses
of its migrant workforce".
The UAE government-owned Dubai World
is negotiating to buy part of
Turnberry in Ayrshire, which is due
to host next year's Open
Championship. There is also
speculation it wants to take over
the Gleneagles and Loch Lomond
resorts in a US$800 million deal.
But the author of a damning report
into the welfare of Dubai workers
from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
Nepal, China and the Philippines
claimed that Scottish ministers have
a moral obligation to force the
Emirates to address the abuses
before any deal is concluded.
Human Rights Watch concluded that
many of the 700,000 poorly paid
foreigners lured to the region by
loans from employment agents to pay
for their passage have to repay them
at exorbitant interest rates. They
sometimes live 20 to a room in
labour camps and many have their
passports held in bond by their
employers.
The report said that migrants have
no access to trade unions or
collective bargaining to improve
wages and conditions and are banned
from one year from working in the
region if they go on strike.
The UAE is preparing legislation
related to regulation of trade
unions and permitting organised
collective bargaining.
The local Labour MP Sandra Osborne
is to write to the UK Foreign
Secretary David Miliband, Trade
Secretary John Hutton and the UK
ambassador for the region on the
issue.
Human Rights Watch said that not a
single employer has been
investigated by the government or
threatened with fines over failure
to pay wages.
A spokeswoman for Leisure Corp,
responsible for Dubai World's golf
portfolio, said: "We and all our
contractors abide by the rules in
place in this market, which ensure
that workers' living and working
conditions are at acceptable
levels."
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