Indian Consul General in Dubai has urged Indian workers to stop coming to the UAE on visit visas to look for low-paid jobs.

The consulate has received an increasing number of calls from distressed workers of late. Over 2.6 million Indians reside in the UAE, with a large portion comprising blue-collar workers.

Vipul, who only uses his first name, told Arabian Business that the number of distress calls have been on the rise though initiatives are underway in India to educate workers of not travelling in search of jobs on visit visas.

“There are a lot of workers who come to the UAE on visit visa that they have purchased from dubious agents in India. Once here, they do some pity jobs and don’t make much money," he said.

“Finally, they don’t land a full-time job, either overstaying, or running out of cash, after which they call us. We try to help them as much as possible.”

He advised workers that require emigration

clearance for any of the 18 listed foreign countries on the Indian e-migration system, which includes the UAE, to

register in the system before leaving India.

India launched the e-migrate project in 2015, which aims to discourage illegal recruitment and unscrupulous employment practices to protect workers.

“If a worker is paid less salary than agreed in the contract, we can hold the agent in India responsible and take legal action against him,” Vipul said.

In January, a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ranked the Indian migration to the UAE in 2015 as the “second largest migration in the world”.

A total of 2.8 million are estimated to have migrated to the UAE between 1995 and 2015, making it the top destination for Indians in the world.