UAE extends compulsory military service for its citizens
According to reports filtering out from state news agency, WAM, the United Arab Emirates has extended mandatory military service for all Emirati men. The duration for the same will be between 12 to 16 months and comes even as the state is involved in a war with Yemen.
The UAE which is part of a federation of seven emirates has a population of mostly expatriates, is also a key member of a Saudi-led military coalition which intervened in Yemen back in 2015 against the hostile, Iran-aligned Houthi. The aim of the intervention was to restore the Yemen government which was shunted out into exile.
"The general command of the armed forces ... announced the extension of the legal period for national service ... to 16 instead of 12 months," WAM said late on Saturday.
Back in 2014, the UAE has introduced mandatory military service for all Emirati men. Apart from this, the participation of women who could only serve for nine months was optional and required permission of the legal guardians.
This rule was chalked out as a the local Emirati citizens are easily outnumbered by foreign workers and the government wants more nationals to get into private and public sector jobs, and military is included in the list.
There is a similar rule in Qatar, which made all male Qataris aged between 18 to 35 years, serve in the armed forced for a minimum of three months.
According to the new norm, all men who hold a high school diploma or its equivalent degree will serve 16 months instead of the earlier 12 months.
Also, for men who do not have a high school qualification will continue to serve in the military for two years.
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