A Pakistani official reported to AFP that at least seven Pakistani nationals and one Iranian sailor died during a failed attempt by the Pakistanis to reach Dubai. The four survivors for the group of 12 Pakistanis reported that they crossed by land to Iran, from where the human-traffickers were suppo…
Archive for the ‘UAE’ Category
7 Pakistani worker starve to death during attempt to reach Dubai
August 4th, 2009
Cities of Exclusion in the Gulf: Evidence in a UAE Mall’s Ban on Laborers
July 12th, 2009
Last week, I read a blog post with a link to an article in the Maktoob Business on one Dubai mall’s recent decision to ban low-skilled laborers from entering on evenings and weekends. While this is an example of pretty blatant discrimination, the Al Bawadi Mall’s spokesperson, Mr. Khalid Shraim ...
‘Indian Worker Suicides Down 41%’ in UAE
May 3rd, 2009
The annual number of suicide deaths of Indian migrant workers in the UAE fell by 41% year-on-year in 2008, falling from 118 deaths to 69, according to this recent news report. The results mark a reverse of the trend that has been seen in the past four years. Between 2005 and 2006 the number of suic...
Hell for Migrants: The Dark Side of Dubai
April 7th, 2009
I urge you all to read this article by British journalist Johann Hari, The Dark Side of Dubai, which deals which contains a heartbreaking description of the conditions enduring by migrant construction workers in the Emirate. Hari goes where few journalists venture, to a labour camp away from the gl...
UAE Rejects UN Recommendations for Migrant Workers’ Rights
March 23rd, 2009
The UAE has rejected more human rights suggestions put forward by the United Nations as part of the country’s Universal Periodic Review, including a number which specifically concern the treatment of migrant workers. Anwar Mohammed Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, appeared ...
Overcrowding in Dubai Labour Camps
March 3rd, 2009
General News UAE Working conditions
Construction companies in the UAE have been issued a warning by the Ministry of Labour over labour camp overcrowding, after recent inspections showed that some firms had crammed over 40% more workers into camps in an attempt to cut costs. Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting with private companie...
Doctor Who goes to Dubai – a dubious choice?
January 24th, 2009
In his blog for the Guardian newspaper, Gareth McClean has vented his anger at the BBC for choosing to film an episode of the cult British television series ‘Doctor Who’ in Dubai. He is shocked at the hypocrisy of how a family-orientated show which focuses on good triumphing over evil co...
Interview with Nick McGeehan from Mafiwasta
January 18th, 2009
Abusive employers General Slavery UAE
Migrant Rights talks to Nick McGeehan, founding member of human rights group Mafiwasta, set up in 2005 to bring to attention abuses of migrant workers in the Gulf. Mafiwasta currently focuses on the UAE, but hopes to expand its work to other countries in the region in future. Mafi is Arabic for ‘...
Ghaith Abdul-Ahad: ‘We need slaves to build monuments’
October 10th, 2008
The UAE has long been expanding at the expense of migrant workers and their human rights. Their economic development come at a very large price, one that not many people care to address. However Ghaith Abdul-Ahad has done exactly that in his latest article in a tear-jerking story from The Guardian: ...
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