Dubai: From riches to rags BBC Panorama:
 

Just reading the article on the BBC web page (link below).

We all know this is going on over on the wrong side of SZR. We pass the slumped workers trying to get some sleep on the non air-conditioned buses either before or exhausted after a 12 hour shift.

This is really how Dubai was built: greed and abuse.

It is about time their story is told... not that it will do them much good. I'm sure that many will be 'disappeared' soon as their labor is no longer required, repatriated with very little to show for their hard-time in paradise.

This place is nothing about human rights but all about human wrongs.

BBC - Panorama - Dubai: From riches to rags

Heard the other day through the building trade that they are expecting around 200,000 one way trips to India by the end of June. It is sad that living here you just cannot get any real news about how it is but a look at the villa rental prices and the cars for sale tells a story that can`t and shouldn`t be hidden.
I can still remember the shock that I got during my first week here when a sales girl in Debenhams MOE told me that she was earning 1500dhs per month and had 2 kids back in Philies.

Excerpts from the documentary are being shown on BBC World News. If you miss the whole documentary then it will probably be added to Panoramas website ( BBC - Panorama - Panorama ) after airing on BBC 1 tonight.

There are many disillusioned and angry workers like those shown who compare their virtual poverty to the apparent luxury that passes them by daily. Can you wonder that when they do return they have any time for the 'west' and its values?

As the opulence rose their wages and conditions actually deteriorated and if they didn't like it... they couldn't leave.

give us your poor, your huddled masses.... hmmmm. worked for the US... maybe DXB thinks it will work here...what do I know.. I just push tin...
W

Hopefully you're joking Mate. Don't you think there is a difference between the UAE and the US? Bill of rights, constitution, equal protection under the law. Citizenship to one of the great democracies and the 'American dream'. Dubai only peddles it.

I believe that is where ME countries make their biggest mistake; instead of offering immigrants the promise of a future, they employ "guest workers" and make it very clear you are not wanted beyond your contract.

huh?
 

Since when did a Middle Eastern country become part of the West?

Or am I missing something here?

Yes, you are missing that for all intents and purposes Dubai offers a piece of the West in the Middle East and if your looking at it from a ditch there can appear to be little difference.

Western styles Malls and every franchise you'd expect to see in UK, US (or anywhere else for that matter) all here. Worse perhaps is that Dubai can appear to have has sold out to the west, turning its back on Middle Eastern values, in the pursuit of wealth.

The story returning will be there was nothing in it for us.

I don't understand all of the comments about the workers. Dubai is blamed when the poor fellas are given tough jobs for few money, then Dubai is blamed when the poor fellas are kicked back in their own countries. Would they anyway have a little chance to get a job in the "modern western world" when everything is done to keep them away? Their only hope to reach human right countries is to travel hidden in the back of a lorry or on a drifting boat where many loose their lives.

It is true that Dubai has been raised by them for little money, but how many "human right world immigrants" stepped in to enjoy good life and tax free salaries? It might not be very decent to criticize a system without first mentioning that some of us enjoyed it... by the way all of the so called human right countries of the west emerged using free slaves for decades.

I'm just sharing a different point of view (as a democrat) without trying to argue with anybody... thanks for your peaceful comments.

.... and suddenly BBC advances to being a reliable source of information and their opinion to be objective .... :{

Its good to have a different point of view but does that mean that the men here don't have the right to be heard? They have no voice, they don't live in a democracy and don't have a voice. Granted this is happening in many places around the world but it doesn't make it right and should at every opportunity be exposed.

Yes I agree there is much hypocrisy in those of us who have enjoyed the benefits and those who have never seen any. That doesn't mean it's too late to take our heads out of the sand and see what it all really cost.

If we don't understand the comments about the workers then we are ignorant of their plight.

This is showing the underbelly here in Dubai; the workers who were duped into coming here, treated so badly and are now destitute. Dubai highlights the injustice and the gulf between the haves and the have nots.

Pool: and where else do you want to hear it from? So it's not true then? To start go and take the 4x4 and have a look for yourself around Al Quoz for example. Take the sunglasses off and take a real look.

Also see: Mafiwasta - Workers' rights in the UAE

The ways our western countries are keeping some immigrants away are sometime barely matching with "practising" human rights... Please compare what can be compared. It's easy to show our democraties as models compared to Dubai since our countries are not welcoming those people. As a result you cannot compare. I have no idea of how it would be if the western world had the same concentration of third world immigrants as in Dubai, but I'm quite sure that it wouldn't be as idealisitc as some are pretending...

SFLY, I don`t want to start an argument but I do feel that you are missing the point a little.
The Indian workers that are building the Dubai Dream are not brought here or permitted entry as some sort of human rights jesture. They are brought here for the same reason that you and I buy batteries. They are paid less than 1000Dhs per month, they live in open prison conditions and work like slaves. They do not have access to their passports and do not have the ability to decide whether they leave or stay. When they are no longer required they are just packed off back home.
The sad thing for me is that these workers actually come here because the pitance that they earn is actually enough to support their families back home and give their kids a better life. They know the conditions are bad but they are willing to sacrifice themselves in the hope of a better future for their kin.

I think if you believe that Dubai human rights can be compared to the way the UK deals with imigration then you are not really looking at what goes on here. In my opinion there are only two types of people that Dubai wants to let in, the rich and the exploitable.

Workers rights
 

Perhaps the BBC should look into the agencies who supply the immigrant workers?Most have to pay a big fee up front just to get there,then pay back the agent before they actually earn anything.Quite common in Thailand .The carrot is usually they will obtain a passport for you and fly you to the destination country(Korea ,Taiwan ie.,)and put you in dormitary accomodation thats just about livable.Not just Dubai.Been like this for years,I have worked in a number of countries and things are pretty much the same.One job was on American territory and my guys worked in McDonalds on thier days of as they paid more than the company rate(US.company).

SFLY,

Why do you think all emigrants would do anything to get to (lets say) EU countries in the first place?! Because once they are in they gonna have all the rights like everybody else, they might not get the best jobs but even tho, they will be able to live with dignity that any person has a right to (same as you and me).
Theres not some much space in EU for all of them to come. Europe wouldnt be able to feed all this people if they would just open borders to everyone.
Its not easy to get there but once you do you will be respected like anybody else. (even if you gonna fry burgers in MC D)
Look, Europe and other wester countries may not be so much open to take everybody in, but it doesnt give Dubai (UAE) and all other GCC countries the right to slavery, does it? Its not only construction workers anyways.
Dubai may ONLY look like 21 century city but they rule their city (country) is more of Robert Mugabe style...

No it doesn't - but as Europe and the other Western countries dont want to let these guys in and give them jobs so what other options do they have?

I think by now people in these countries are fully aware of what is going on in GCCs and as long as they are free to decide to come you cannot really call it slavery. A Dubai F&B business did a recent waitresses recruitment in Philippines and hundreds of people were queuing for a 1100 AED job, including people with masters. With all the money that we saw flowing in the UAE during the past years there are no excuses for giving such poor working conditions to all these workers but it doesn't take more than two weeks in Dubai to understand what is going on.. as a result expats are fully aware of how it works and at what cost they can get the Dubai "lifestyle". As a Dubai resident I am fully conscious of these sad facts without feeling in a position to give any morale to the rulers as my own country is not helping much.

About 2500 immigrants are found dead every years around the Spanish shores, France is hunting illegal immigrants at school gates when they come to pick-up their kids, these are few example of sad stories happening around the western world. West African immigrants are often coming from potentially wealthy countries such as Gabon, Nigeria and Congo while EU companies are exploiting commodities at almost no cost... but it's true that this is not slavery, but only stealing...

Jett II,

So you want to say that slavery in Dubai is Europe and other Western countries fault coz they didnt let them in? They do let some in but cant just "invite" everybody. Remember that once they come they can call their new country home beacuse they wont be "shipped" out once their contract is over. They will have full rights like anybody else.
The point is that many of them came to Dubai to make money but they were promised 3-5x of what they making now. They are not in possesion of their passports and if they try to knock of the doors of their embassy and look for help, nobody will even open.
Its a slavery that they paid for, looking for better life, trying to make some money they were brought here and didnt recive even 1/5 of what they were promised. I know that they dont have much choice, but somebody is taking advantage of it and the local authority should take care of it.
Yes they should but they wont because this way is better for them, they going to benefit from it.
(Oh I forgot, they local authority is "promotin" slavery)

SFLY,

I know alot of them would come even tho they know the salary will be low, but remember that 90% of time they wont recive the money and benefits they were promised before coming here.
You should know your self how companies in UAE "respect" any sort of contract.
They were hired by the local (Dubai) company and paid for it (altho they should not), so to them it all seems like a fair deal, something they can trust. This is not some isolated case that happened once. This sh!t is happeing all over Middle East, simple slavery and human trafficing.
I hope more and more this sort of documentaries will be on all major international news channels so people can be aware before they choose DXB as their holiday spot.
One more thing. They didnt get on a boat in Bombay or Manilla and try to illegaly drift to the Middle East, so do not try to compare all this with West African situation.

I'm not saying that what is happening is anyone's fault apart from the individuals who expolit these workers.

The point is that these workers often do not have any other choice apart from taking a crap job in Dubai because others countries (like in Europe) wont allow them in to work. Many countries in the Third World rely on these remittances from these migrant workers and if the amount of countries who will offer them jobs is fairly small then they they do not have much choice about the conditions they are exposed to.

It is surely a bit hypocritical to complain about the treatment of workers by states in other parts of the world when you wont allow these same workers to come to your country and find employment.

Hey guys. Does Dubai offer any type of programs for the "rich" to help the "poor"? Any volunteer programs? Can you drop food off at any food banks where these workers can go if they need help?