BBC's Ben Anderson and the 'slumdogs' of Dubai.
BBC's Ben Anderson took a journey to Dubai reported a great taboo in that very sand pit. He took a great risk of delivering an undercover report on the dire conditions of migrant laborers. I am PROUD of Ben on how he made his piece -- he dug well and deep on the topic. Perhaps his documentary was inspired from the movie Slumdog Millionare, hence it was titled as
Slumdogs and Millionaires.
Dubai is one of the many playgrounds of the rich and famous.
Naomi Campbell held a low profile birthday party,
Michael Jackson shopping while in an undercover abaya, and
a lot of world-renowned celebrities on real estate madness.
It came as a great surprise to me, as I watch BBC World news; the screen suddenly switched to image of laborers plastering a wall from a high-rise edifice. The same image shook me when that same laborer seems to be working without a safety harness. Following frame shows laborers crying, Ben's camera showing human feces all over the toilet from a laborer camp and a dozen of captured emotions.
Somehow, it feels like my
previous post was a prelude to this documentary, I mentioned about their living conditions and their proximity from the main civilization of Dubai.
Laborers are unskilled and mainly hired from South Asia continent, at least a hundred of thousands work in Dubai. They are sourced from the most rural villages and slums. Monthly average salary is 650 dirhams (USD 176) including 60 cents for overtime. They have 12 hours of daily work, six days a week. They are brought to Dubai through a recruiter they paid for averaging USD 1,000 which is loaned and eventually paid in installments.
The best way to get the cheapest laborer is by determining their literacy. These people have limited to none English skills, Arabic skills and even Hindi language skills. One must have a very low esteem so it would be easy to manage (dictate) them. It's not easy to complain when one is illiterate and mediocre.
Although housing is free, it is not for normal human beings to inhabit. In the report, an agent said to Ben, "You wouldn't keep cattle in this building." They live as a bunch in a cramped room. They have a kitchen but cooking gas is not provided by some employers. I would say this again, Ben's camera captured human feces scattered in the toilet on one of the labor camps.
This guy works a 12-hours day and no washing machine. The sack on the bottom-left corner contains charcoal for cooking.
Hunger is another experience they have taken from time to time. Since their homes are from the isolated districts of Dubai, shopping centers are far. They cannot just use transport at their will since it's limited and costly. I also have a share of experience about this; I was with a PR company and our client was Aggreko (a rental power provider). It was Ramadan so our client decided to host an
Iftar dinner in a labor camp, that was in the far west of Dubai where you'll see gigantic sand dunes and possibly some stray camels. It was a camp of 500 men. Of course, we have a minion of press people with pens and camera to cover the 'staged event' (oxymoron?). Food was great, a smorgasbord of Indian cuisine. But what noticed me most was the level of enthusiasm of the laborers. Some faces glowed, some had a great social time and some ate quickly - headed for the next round.
In my point of view, the feeding event was like a temporary break from a dreadful exile...
But these laborers are not stupid! After getting and work in Dubai, they described their lives like a prison sentence and after 2-3 years, they face home with nothing. Many of them even failed to cover their past debts (recruitment money).
FOR YOUR INFORMATION: They are being used to build wonderlands for the ultra-rich of Dubai. All buildings in Dubai are built by them, the South Asians.
Only mothers can love them so well and men should not deny their dignity.
The rich denies the reality. They claim that it was built with pride... In reality, all Dubai structures from sweat, blood and tears... some even with their lives. These so-called ultra-rich have failed to reach out further on these wretched laborer soul.
Do not be deceived, Dubai's luxury living is made up of million miseries of men.
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