Qatar 2015/2016
I've got a couple of mates there too. They have no complaints. They went with their eyes wide open and with the idea that it wasn't a career. Go there, keep their heads down make enough money to pay off the mortgage and come back to Europe.
They got their loved ones on side. The old adage happy wife happy life is particularly important. I'm sure it has its problems and many have probably fallen foul of a very authoritarian system. I have many friends in various middle eastern airlines. The ones that hate it there hate it because their families hate it. The ones that get on do so with the support of that family.