Crowds gathered around the Burj al Khalifa tower earlier today to watch French ‘spiderman’ Alain Robert scale the world’s tallest building. The free-climber, notorious for climbing Petronas Towers and the Empire State building with no ropes, wore a harness on this occasion to comply with UAE safety regulations. It’s a shame that the UAE were not as stringent when it came to the safety of the foreign labourers who built the tower.
Burj al Khalifa is a symbol of modernity and architectural excellence in the UAE, but the migrant construction labourers who worked on the project had to endure dangerous conditions on-site and often had their pay and passports witheld. Have a look at this previous post on Migrant Rights for more on the Burj al Khalifa’s tawdry back-story. One migrant worker was reported to have been killed due to an accident on the site, but it is highly probable that his was not the only death, since the documentation of work-related fatalities in the UAE is notoriously patchy.
While we are not opposed to growth, innovation and development, we remain seriously concerned about the human cost of real estate and construction mega-projects in the Gulf.
3 Comments
The Burj al Khalifa is indeed majestic but the workers from other countries have risked their lives just for a very minimal fee and poor living conditions which are close to slavery. The UAE government should do something about this. It’s a shame on their part that their country looks glamorous but it is not giving what is due to the people who built it.
i agree with Mark. Infact, there should be more awareness in the West also abt these kind of rights’ abuses giong on in the country they absolutely LOVE
The economy conditions and finance status of the labour working in dubai is not hidden by eyes of the govt of Dubai. People who come here with a hope of a better life are forced to face danger of life as a side effect. Govt should take care of it.