In today’s video we will talk about the Dark side of Dubai. Dubai is a refuge for a lavish lifestyle and world-class shopping, in addition to having the world’s tallest building and valuable oil deposits.
A typical Emirati lifestyle might include having the privilege of driving a Ferrari and having at least one maid per household. Furthermore, Dubai serves as a safe haven for Arabs fleeing authoritarian regimes in their own countries.
However, there is a terrible reality hidden behind this dazzling exterior that the rest of the world may not be aware of: thousands of skyscrapers in Dubai are constructed by migrant workers!
Over the 2014 Christmas holiday something interesting happened, Etihad Airways had a glitch fare from the States to Abu Dhabi for $230 roundtrip! People all over the United States texted, tweeted, and called everyone they knew sharing the deal which resulted in a mass exodus of Americans headed to the United Arab Emirates. Arriving in the Abu Dhabi International Airport, many guests opted to take the complimentary hour long Etihad luxury shuttle to Dubai where they were greeted with towering modern skyscrapers, a vast highway filled with every luxury automobile imaginable and twinkling lights that filled the city. Naturally It was an array of visual stimulation, as Dubai is instantly entrancing. From the hotels to the restaurants and of course the shopping, Dubai is a luxurious modern Oasis in the middle of the desert. It’s hard not to fall in love. But behind the amazing service and awe striking architecture, there’s a darker side to Dubai that’s not on any brochure.
Among other documentaries about Dubai’s not so glamorous uprising, BBC’s Ben Anderson spent months in Dubai trying to infiltrate the community of expatriate workers who are putting them up.
According to Vice News, “what he discovered when he eventually got in was that the gem of the Arab world is almost entirely built on imported slave labor.”
Expats from Bangladesh and India are drawn to Dubai by promises of a better quality of life, greater income, and limitless chances. Workers are compelled to work 12 hour days for very little pay six days a week after paying high-priced illegal Visa fees and then being stripped of their passports. Their living conditions are terrible, and they’re trapped on the gloomy outskirts of the new world’s most dazzling metropolis.
Expats from all over the world, especially from South Asia, make up more than 95% of Dubai’s population. The majority of people have moved to Dubai with the hopes of a better future. However, their passports may be seized by airport security or companies upon arrival in an attempt to prevent them from leaving; and migrants are transferred to Sonapur, on the outskirts of Dubai, far from the city’s flash and gloss.
In the most basic accommodations, more than five people live in a tight room with limited access to power. Workers frequently become ill since the water supply in the camps is not purified.
In addition, the rooms are typically plagued with rodents and insects due to a lack of ventilation!
Employees have been obliged to accept whatever wages they are paid by their employers as a result of the government’s refusal to intervene in pay regulation or establish minimum working standards for migrant workers. There isn’t even a bureau where they can file complaints, and refusing to work might lead to deportation or worse, jail. Migrant workers are also compelled to work in oppressive heat, with temperatures regularly exceeding fifty degrees Celsius. The government closes down tourist attractions during excessive heat, but workers are required to continue working.
As a result, it is unsurprising that the suicide rate among the Asian community in Dubai has been rising in recent years. On average, there are roughly two …
source
26 Comments