UAE’s Life Protection Plan helps over 5,500 Indian expats

News Network

August 13, 2024

Launched on March 1, 2024, an insurance scheme for Indian workers in the UAE provides compensation of up to Dh75,000 for families in the event of the employee’s death, whether due to accidents or natural causes.

Over 5,500 workers have already benefited from the new welfare scheme, the Indian Consulate in Dubai said on Tuesday.

Known as the Life Protection Plan (LPP), this policy was introduced to address a gap in employment benefits for the 2.27 million blue-collar workers in the UAE.

Although many companies offer health insurance and compensation for work-related injuries and deaths, there was previously no mandatory coverage for natural deaths.

As a result, families could face financial difficulties, including repatriation costs, if their primary breadwinner passed away.

To tackle this issue, the Indian Consulate arranged a meeting between major UAE companies employing blue-collar workers and two insurance providers.

Recently, these insurance providers, namely, Extra Co Group of Companies and Gargash Insurance, completed formalities – at the Consulate – for workers to subscribe to the scheme.

However, this plan has to be opted by the employers or companies for their employees and is currently not available for individual subscribers.

What do the benefits entail?

The Life Protection Plan for workers offers extensive coverage, including worldwide protection, for employees with a UAE employment visa.

It provides benefits for death from any cause, whether natural or accidental, and includes coverage for permanent total or partial disability due to an accident.

Additionally, the plan covers repatriation expenses up to Dh12,000 per person in the event of death. The coverage is available for individuals aged 18 to 70 years.

How much does the plan cost?

•   Dh72 per year – Dh75,000 compensation
•   Dh50 per year – Dh50,000 compensation
•   Dh37 per year – Dh35,000 compensation

Notably, around 3.5 million Indians live in the UAE, with about 65 per cent employed in blue-collar jobs, according to the Indian Consulate.

In 2022, the mission reported 1,750 deaths in Dubai, with 1,100 being workers. A similar pattern was observed in 2023, with 1,000 worker deaths out of a total of 1,513. Over 90 percent of these deaths were due to natural causes.

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International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant for war crimes

News Network

November 21,2024

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant over war crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The court’s Pre-Trial Chamber I issued warrants of arrest for Netanyahu and Gallant "for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024, the day the Prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest”, it confirmed in a statement Thursday.

It is the first instance in the court's 22-year history it has issued arrest warrants for Western-allied senior officials.

In its statement, the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber I, a panel of three judges, said it has rejected appeals by Israel challenging its jurisdiction.

The chamber said it has decided to release the arrest warrants because "conduct similar to that addressed in the warrant of arrest appears to be ongoing", referring to Israel's ongoing onslaught on Gaza.

Netanyahu and Gallant, it said, “each bear criminal responsibility” for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts,” as well as “intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.”

All 124 states that signed the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the court, are now under an obligation to arrest the wanted individuals and hand them over to the ICC in the Hague.

The court relies on the cooperation of member states to arrest and surrender suspects. The Netherlands' foreign minister quickly said his country was prepared to enforce the warrants while 93 nations earlier reiterated their support for the ICC.

Triestino Mariniello, a lawyer representing Palestinian victims at the ICC, called the warrants "a historic decision".

He noted that the court had endured "pressure and threats of sanctions" from the US government, but acted nonetheless.

As expected, the Tel Aviv regime rejected the rulings, with its security minister Itamar Ben Gvir calling the warrants “anti-Semitic through and through.”

The ICC said Israel’s acceptance of the court’s jurisdiction was not required.

Israel and its major ally, the United States, are not members of the court.

Israel unleashed its bloody Gaza onslaught on October 7, 2023. So far, it has killed at least 43,985 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 104,092 others, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Israel faces an ongoing South Africa-led genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

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