The dark side of Dubai

How to make Dubai appear like a paradise.
It's still the desert.

It's not something you read about much. For one thing, in Dubai you can't say anything negative about Dubai. It will get you in trouble. Then there's the percentage of expats in Dubai who go to Dubai to benefit from the slave labour. They won't say anything negative about it.

They love it in Dubai. Until something goes wrong and suddenly they can't leave because they are so in debt and there is no such thing as bankruptcy in Dubai. Not something that most people know when they arrive in Dubai originally thinking it's going to be paradise, or at least a place to make quick money.

Taken in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE - workers being moved like cattle
in a glorified pickup truck December 2007

I've never been dazzled by Dubai. I don't care much for the concept of Las Vegas. One of the big computer trade shows is COMDEX held in Vegas every November. After hearing descriptions from my ex I just had no interest.  I've heard Dubai compared to Vegas. First big turn off for me. Then it was seeing the men, exclusively from South-Asia, slave in the heat, and the unsanitary conditions they worked in. I never saw the places they lived in. Though some I suspected lived on the sites they were working. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that they work in horrible conditions. They get carted around like cattle and I'm sure people treat their cattle better then these men are treated. But it's OK you get re-assured, they make more money here then at home.  That's not even guaranteed, and that's if they survive Dubai. 

South-Asian workers sit in the tiny bit of shade waiting for their
bus along Sheik Zayed road near Marina Diamond buildings,
Dubai, UAE Taken February 2007.

One of the things the article I linked above doesn't cover at all, is that to renew your work VISA to stay in Dubai, you get tested for HIV. If you are found to be HIV positive, you get deported back home. Often they won't even tell you why you're deported other then "health reasons", so you go on to infect your wife and other lovers back home.   Admittedly at least it was easy to buy condoms. They were available in plain sight at gas station convenience stores next to the gum, as I recall. Though I'm thinking with the lack of wages I'm sure condoms doesn't come high on the list of priorities for the South-Asian 'slave' trapped in Dubai.

Dubai skyline December 2007 seen from Emirates road E311

We aren't going to see any form of protests in Dubai unless it's from the South-Asians and I doubt they would find a way to organize themselves. The Emirate's are probably one of the most spoiled people's on earth. The government provides extremely well for them. They aren't going to protest at all, and we won't hear about the dark side of Dubai except the day the economy there completely tanks and this won't happen for some time yet, as Abu Dhabi keeps them afloat.

One of the thing I loved about the article I linked above, was this line " All the people who couldn't succeed in their own countries end up here, and suddenly they're rich and promoted way above their abilities and bragging about how great they are. I've never met so many incompetent people in such senior positions anywhere in the world".