Disastrous Dubai

Looking back at my visit to Dubai in the mid-nineties, despite the allure of the nihari breakfasts and paya dinners, a lasting memory is of the immigrant workers labouring in the searing midday heat. The Kafkaesque nature of the situation was apparent (well portrayed in Syriana) so the placidity of the workers surprised me. No longer though. Rory McCarthy (he of kidnapped in Iraq fame) reports growing unrest in the dazzling, flagship emirate.

• 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.


• 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...and caused several hundred thousand pounds' worth of damage. The next day, workers at the site and other labourers working on the international airport went out briefly on strike.
  
• Similar protests have sprung up among migrant workers in Qatar, Oman and Kuwait.


• 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.

Read the full article here.