Revolt stirs as Dubai aims high
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__inte
rnational_news/&articleid=267997
29 March 2006 11:12
At the heart of a vast construction site in the centre of Dubai is a
cone-shaped building that is rising at the rate of one floor a week. When it
opens in two years, the Burj Dubai -- the flagship among a dozen lavish
building projects in this boomtown emirate -- will be the world's tallest
skyscraper and home to a Giorgio Armani hotel. Lawns and trimmed hedges
surround the site, along with seductive advertisements for apartments that
promise "a tribute to fine living".
A few kilometres out in the desert is the Dubai that the tourists never see:
the labour camps that house the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who
build these skyscrapers. There are no lawns, hedges or dreamy adverts.
Labourers, most from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, trapped into working
here by crippling debts, sleep eight to a room and work long shifts for
paltry wages and with no job security. They spend hours on bus trips to the
sites each day, frequently go for months without pay, and are left penniless
when contractors go bankrupt.
For the first time, years of accumulated frustration and resentment have now
boiled over into a series of strikes and demonstrations. They began in
September when 700 workers blocked a major road, complaining about poor
salaries and bad conditions. That alone was remarkable in a country where
public dissent is forbidden, and was a display of the mounting anger and
despair among the migrant labourers.
At least eight other strikes and demonstrations followed at building sites
across the emirate, culminating last week in a rare and violent protest at
Burj Dubai. In one evening rampage, 2 500 workers downed tools and attacked
security staff, broke into offices and smashed computers and files. They ran
through the building complex damaging more than a dozen cars and
construction equipment, and caused several hundred thousand dollars' worth
of damage. The next day, workers at the site and other labourers working on
the international airport went out briefly on strike.
The protests are growing more organised, and for the first time are
challenging the image of Dubai as a peaceful and prosperous hub of
investment in the Middle East. Similar protests have sprung up among migrant
workers in Qatar, Oman and Kuwait.
Quick money
"I had big dreams when I came to Dubai," said Umprakash (30) an Indian from
Rajasthan, who has worked as a labourer here for a decade. "But we're in a
miserable condition." Late one afternoon, he and a group of other workers in
overalls sat on the concrete floor outside their small accommodation block
in the al-Quoz industrial area of the city.
Although a university graduate, he struggled to find work in India and was
lured to Dubai by promises of quick money. Like most others he was forced by
a recruitment agency in India to buy his visa -- a $2 200 cost that,
legally, his employer should have covered. He raised the money by selling
some land and taking out the only loan he could, with an interest rate of
36%. It took him the first five years just to pay it back.
Now he earns about $208 a month, the average for a worker here. He sends
about half back to his wife and two children, whom he sees for just a few
weeks once every two years. He could have earned the same in India. Like
most of the workers, he promises himself he will leave soon, just as soon as
he's made a little more. "I've forgotten all of my studies. Now I just use a
hand shovel. This is no life for educated people," he said. "I wish I'd
never heard of Dubai."
Some are pushed into severe depression by their circumstances. Last year 84
workers committed suicide. The number who die on site in accidents is
thought to be even higher, though there are no official figures.
"Once they reach here their families at home start demanding that they send
back money. Everyone believes Dubai is full of money. These men are like a
candle burning for somebody else," said KV Shamsudheen, an Indian
businessman who runs Pravasi Bandhu, one of a handful of support groups.
Shamsudheen counsels workers over the phone, trying to talk them out of
their despair. "We are dealing with just the tip of the iceberg," he said.
Technically, the labour laws in Dubai offer some protection to the workers:
a day's shift should be only eight hours with overtime limited to two hours
and paid at a higher rate; there should be medical care, proper housing, 30
days' annual holiday and employees should not be made to work during the
searing midday heat in the summer. "The workers agree the salaries in their
own countries before they come out here," said Lieutenant Colonel Rashid
Bakhit al-Jumairi, an interior ministry official who works on labour issues.
"Everything here is going smoothly and according to the labour laws."
But much of the labour law favours employers, and there are only a few dozen
inspectors to monitor up to 800 000 construction workers. Few companies keep
within the rules, even though the government has begun to blacklist and
publish the names of some of those who do not. Workers who complain fear
losing their jobs.
Abdullah al-Mamun (28) came from Bangladesh two years ago expecting to work
as a skilled electrician, but was given a job as an unskilled labourer, for
which the wages are lower. He earns $150 a month, far less than he was
promised before he left his home. He is also struggling to pay off the heavy
debt he incurred buying his visa. His company gives him no holiday
entitlement and it will take him three months to save the money for an air
ticket home.
"The agents who hired us are exploiting us," he said. "It is completely
unlawful. I made several complaints to our general manager, but nobody
listens, nothing happens. I don't want to think about the state we are in."
Workers can complain as individuals, but trade unions and workers'
associations are banned, and the country has still not signed important
conventions of the International Labour Organisation. This is symptom of a
tradeoff across the United Arab Emirates: there may be an economic boom, but
there are precious few political freedoms. Everyone is encouraged to profit
from heady economic growth, but no one is allowed to question the political
leadership or the huge economic disparities. There are no elections and no
opposition parties; freedom of speech is strictly controlled.
Buying allegiance
"There is no accountability and nobody questions the system because there
are no political rights," said Mohammed al-Roken, a human rights lawyer and
the former head of the Emirates' Jurists Association. "The elites are buying
the allegiance of their citizens."
Because of his criticisms, Roken has been banned indefinitely from writing
in local newspapers, appearing on local television or continuing his job as
a university law professor. His public speeches are frequently cancelled at
the last minute. He and others have lobbied for two years to set up the
country's first human rights organisation, but have been refused permission.
Roken said the government was under mounting pressure to tackle its labour
crisis. "There must be a change, otherwise this might explode in the face of
society," he said.
The UAE is now under pressure from the US in negotiations for a free-trade
agreement, with Washington pushing for improvements to workers' negotiating
rights. "Without pressure from inside and outside the country, nothing will
change," Roken said. - Guardian Unlimited C Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006
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