A380-800 driver
Fair comments, I accept what you say, however some of the more hysterical reports I've read
(alright, I'll admit I do sometimes look at the Daily Mail website!) refer to 'slave' conditions whereby workers have their passports confiscated on arrival, have to pay huge fees to get the jobs in DXB and then spend years working to pay off those debts, pay outrageous amounts for lousy accomodation, and so on.
There were some pretty damning reports in the Guardian and other broadsheets a year or so ago too and whilst I certainly disagree with much of what appears in that lefty publication, it's more serious than the Wail and their reporting is almost certainly substantially based on truth and facts.
Ghaith Abdul-Ahad visits the impoverished camps for the men building the skyscrapers of Dubai and Abu Dhabi | World news | The Guardian
The 'virtual slaves' of the Gulf states | Nesrine Malik | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Dubai: business as usual | Jon Henley | Business | The Guardian
What I really detest about Dubai though is the way that they condemn people for public displays of affection (I'm not talking about shagging on the beach, that's clearly out of order!), sex outside marriage is illegal, and yet half their tourist industry is based on prostitution. They know damn well that when these young girls arrive from the CIS, Eastern Europe, Africa with $50 and a couple of miniskirts, they're not bona fide tourists. But they turn a blind eye to it.
That stinks. I'm not taking a moral stand here against the sex trade, but against the hypocrisy of the Dubai authorities in this regard. I am sure that you have seen, as have most of us, the bars of the international hotels packed with prossies and their clients.