Dune

There have been many articles written about Dubai but this is one of the better ones in my opinion.

Having lived here for more than a decade, most of what is written in this article is very accurate and should be required reading for anyone who plans to leave their home country to living in Dubai/work for Emirates.


The dark side of Dubai - Middle East, World News - Independent.ie

captjns

An excellent and accurate article. I have been to the region on layovers during the past 15 years. Never felt totally secure there. I interviewed with FlyDubai last October. The company HR person was originally from Australia, the simulator evaluator a retired 777 UAL captain, and another person from Europe were present at the interview. I felt that I never got straight answers to my questions, nor would these people look you in the eye when responding to questions. There were many inconsistencies concerning terms and conditions between information e-mailed to me and the formal contract given to me upon my arrival at the hotel.

Some expats are very happy there, and some… well you can guess the rest. Before one goes there, notwithstanding the cultural differences, terms and conditions can be changed at the whim of the owners of the company without recourse… and you are always being monitored. Westerners will be tolerated at best, but not accepted.

robthree

Dune,

Thanks for the link.

Its sobering stuff - its easy to forget that a modern city can be built on a feudal culture. And that freedom isn't the universal condition of mankind.

Typhoonpilot

The story is a bit sensationalistic. Some truths, but lots of half-truths as well.

There is a debtor's prison. Most of the people in it knowingly wrote bad checks or where trying to flee from debts. The government knows that you can't pay your bills if you're in jail so they try to keep those who are willing and able to pay in a position to do so.

The labor is definitely exploited here, but what about where they came from? Granted it's not the best excuse, but when they can only make $50/month in their home country often times living in much more squalid conditions then $150 to $200/month with relatively safe and clean living conditions looks like a great deal. Sadly their own countrymen are the ones who swindle them with high fees in order to get the job so that they work the first year just paying off the fee it took to get the job.

I've never seen a cattle car loaded with workers and I've been here for 7 years. They are in buses and minivans. The government law is that no outside construction work is allowed between 1pm and 4pm in the summer when the temperature exceeds 40 C. It's not always followed, but it is the law.

Passports are usually held by the employer for the lower paying jobs. The employee gets the labor card showing their right to work in the UAE and providing them legal identification. When they go on vacation the passport is returned. When they leave the employer after fulfilling their contract the passport gets returned. Where it gets tricky is when someone wants to leave before their contract is finished. In that case the emplyer has the upper hand. But again, in the majority of cases this arrangement, while not ideal, is not as bad as the article purports it to be. It's also not the case with middle and upper level jobs.

I consistently run across workers who have been here much longer than I have. Obviously it can't be that bad if they stay for a decade or longer. If you've ever travelled to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka then you'd understand why they stay. Now those places are absolute **** holes. Dubai is a far better proposition for them from just about every angle. They make more money; they have much greater safety; they have cleaner living conditions; and they have opportunity to advance.

Dubai is the current whipping boy for the UK press. When times were good the people in the UK were flocking here for high paying expat jobs. Soaking up the sun and living high on the hog. Speculative investing was going on just like in the States and elsewhere. Now that the real estate bubble has burst some have gotten burned and are paying the consequences of their over-indulgence. So the UK press show up and write stories about how bad Dubai is when just two-three years ago they were touting it as a great vacation and investment destination.

I do agree with Dune, however, the article shows important differences from the Western world. One needs to understand that Dubai is not like their home country when they are making the decision to come here.


Typhoonpilot

BA Pilot

... and then never report the temperature as greater than 40 degrees.

Sorry, but Dubai is an absolute sh**hole. I would never contemplate living there. The place, imho, only exists to launder funds for extremists, and if it ever fails to do so, then where do you think the next wave of bombs will explode? Dubai is an enclave of western decadence in the Arabian peninsula - do you think that AQ like that or merely tolerate it because it serves a purpose?

Skyone

I agree with TP. Take any modern city from LA to NY to London to Singapore to Sydney and turn over its underbelly and very likely the name of the city could be replaced in many parts of the article. IMHO was the article accurate? Yes, to a certain degree. Was the article sensationalized? Absolutely. This place ain't Kansas (name your area) and don't come here thinking it is. But it is probably more representative of high end third world countries when it comes to human rights, basic civil rights, etc.

As the Brits like to say, "spot on" to what TP says about the turn about of the UK's opinion of the "Emerald City". Just my two dirhams.

dojetdriver

Very true. But I don't remember when the last time was that the aforementioned cities were touted/advertised as an expat working paradise, can you?

captjns

How long is before Abu Dabai starts imposing their conservative views on the people of Dubai?

Here is an interview with Shaikh Mohammad. Reads like damage control.

http://www.xpress4me.com/news/uae/na.../20012986.html