Dubai's untold story: degradation, excess and slavery

The Dubai debt crisis has been extensively covered by the American media in the context of a financial meltdown, and that is an important part of the story, but it isn’t the whole story.

The Wall Street Journal had a solid account of the financial aspect of the Dubai debt crisis last Friday titled, Dubai: A High Rise, Then a Steep Fall.

Not getting much of a mention is the story of worker slavery, sexual slavery, child slavery, debtor’s prisons, a censured press, political prisoners and environmental destruction on a massive scale.

My patience frayed by all this excess, I find myself snapping: doesn't the omnipresent slave class bother you? I hope they misunderstood me, because the woman replied: "That's what we come for! It's great, you can't do anything for yourself!"

Not getting much of a mention is the story of worker slavery

That's been going on a long time. I worked in pre-Gulf War Kuwait and talked to a bunch of Filipinos and Pakistanis there - all had menial jobs. They all told the same tale - some guy comes to their village and says they'll get a good wage (compared to what they were making locally) and all they have to do is sign a two-year contract.

When they get to any of the Arab states, the hiring outfit says, "Oh, by the way, your round-trip airfare will be deducted from your wages." (cough) These guys get the advertised rate but prices are so high they were almost better off at home. The three Pakis I talked to were packed in a single-wide and ate from a common pot so they could still send something back home. Their only aim was to exist for another day.

A Paki friend of mine had an Indian gardener. She found him crying one day and asked what was wrong. The guy said he was an Financial MBA and was promised a big-paying job but when he got to Kuwait, the hiring company sent him out as a common laborer. He said he want to complain to his embassy and was told they couldn't do anything about it. He also had a two-year contract.

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