More than 600 immigrant construction workers were arrested in Sharjah on 2 April after a violent protest over pay in the emirates' Al Nahda district. The three-hour riot saw workers from Sharjah-based Tiger Contracting Company block roads with building materials and throw stones and bricks at police. According to the Gulf News newspaper, four policemen and three workers were hospitalised with minor injuries. The unrest in Sharjah follows a protest by 400 workers in Ajman who rioted in their labour camp on 30 March after demands for better pay and benefits were refused. Pay for manual labourers in Sharjah is between AED 750 and 850 (US$ 204 and 231), per month, and the Ajman protestors were asking for a AED 200 (US$ 54) rise in their food allowance and a AED 5 (US$ 1.36) rise in overtime payments.
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