Attention heating up... but for how long?

Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed's announcement on 7 November of increased efforts to improve conditions for laborers quickly garnered local media attention and perhaps some puzzlement from the public as to why now when conditions have been as they are for so long?

The answer to the "why now" became apparent on 12 November with the highly publicized release of a report by the activist non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch. In its press release HRW explains,

On October 27, Human Rights Watch communicated its findings and recommendations to the UAE government in a letter. Shortly thereafter, on November 7, the prime minister ordered the labor minister to immediately institute reforms based on Human Rights Watch’s recommendations.

The question is, will the effect of the current directives have a fate any different from earlier pronouncements of similar nature, if not as comprehensive? One key difference may be the considerable amount of attention the HRW report has brought on Dubai and the UAE, this time around.

America's prominent ABC network is to feature Dubai in its upcoming 20/20 news documentary program:

In an exclusive 20/20 story to air this Friday, Nov. 17, the ABC News investigative team went inside Dubai to learn how the emirate has grown so far so fast.

Presumably the laborer issues will come up. On its blogsite ABC discusses several of the issues brought out by HRW in the article, Dark Side of Dubai's Boomtown.

This will mark the second time in less than a year that Dubai has come under close scrutiny in the international media. In the DP World controversy, which blew up in mid-February, the questions were about whether or not a Dubai governmental entity could be trusted to oversee sensitive port operations in the United States. The apparent consensus was "No." Now the questions center on Dubai's human rights record.

The effect of both stories has been to cast Dubai in a negative light. The latter issue could tarnish Dubai's image more than the former, which was clearly motivated by an American domestic political agenda. This time there are moral issues at stake and fingers being pointed come not only from the United States, but from more politically liberal Europe.

The Proper Perspective

The focus, however, ought not be on protecting the image of Dubai as much as on resolving the serious human rights issues, that few could deny with credulity. Once it is clear that real effort is being made to resolve this issue, the image problem will take care of itself. Should the UAE and Dubai attempt to minimize the importance of the human rights issue, then the problem will fester, leaving a more indelible stain on Dubai's reputation.

The attention span of the international media is short. Within a month this issue will largely disappear from the radar screen. At that point, Dubai could return to business as usual. That, however, would be a mistake. The local media have been paying significant attention to this issue for the past few years. They will continue to put pressure on the government.

Restlessness among the work force will also begin to exert pressure once again, as it did through the waning months of summer last year and into spring. What's more, with all certainty, Dubai will once again arise to the forefront of international media attention, for one reason or another, and it won't be for anything good. If progress is not made on the labor front by then, it could be strike three for Dubai.

Go to this blog's latest post or In the News for news and analysis.
See also a compedendium of links at Labour News from the UAE, compiled by LabourStart.org--where trade unionists start their day on the net.

Postscript

Posted on 6 November, just before Sheikh Mohammed's newsmaking pronouncement, one blogger seems to have had his finger right on the pulse with The Great Divide; the post features excellent B&W photography and has generated a lively discussion on the topic.

See most recent post or go to In the News.

Resources for Laborers & Their Supporters

SUB-TITLE

Dubai Transport Inter-Emirate Bus Service Info
Dubai Municipality Bus Routes and Schedules (PDF files)

See most recent post or go to In the News.

Small Moves

CQ, CQ. This is W9GFO. Is anybody out there?
CQ, CQ. I'm not getting anything, Dad.
Small moves, Ellie. Small moves.Contact (the movie), 1997

Introduction

The situation for laborers in the UAE has been for the past few years a rather fluid one. In general, conditions are getting better. Some are receiving higher wages, accommodations have been renovated and new ones constructed, working hours especially during the hottest months of summer have been reduced, and more laborers are getting paid in a timely fashion.

This all may seem encouraging, but one must keep in mind that the base upon which such improvements have emerged was one of extreme and untenable hardship. Minimum if not average wages for the unskilled laborer have risen from as little as 60 cents per hour on the US dollar to a still meagre 80 cents. While new facilities have been built for many there are still commonly up to 20 men per room, sharing limited bathing, toilet and cooking facilities and lacking any amount of privacy or even storage space for their few belongings.

In addition, some problems have been aggravated by the sheer number of laborers who are now entering the market. An unprecedented construction boom has led to an increase in the labor population by hundreds of thousands over the past few years--in a country whose official population is only about 4.1 million.

In short, there have been improvements in conditions for laborers, while there is still a long way to go for conditions overall to meet minimum standards of acceptability. What is also needed is more effort to see that good intentions, mostly in the form of government directives, actually materialize into real improvements.

The government, for example, announces that worker accommodations must include a minimum amount of space per person. The announcement is covered in the local media, both in English and in Arabic. Most laborers, however, never hear about it and their companies ignore it. Months go by and the directive is forgotten. Although there were clearly good intentions on the part of government, the practical effect of the initiative is almost nil.

Organized labor associations, which could help to promote and safeguard such directives, are for all intents and purposes prohibited by law. Non-governmental organizations which might help are also discouraged. Furthermore, the labor community is fragmented among the various nationalities and language groups represented.

Intent

Following upon the state of affairs described above, the intent of this blog is to contribute to an awareness of both the problems that laborers face and the initiatives being made to improve their conditions. This will be attempted in the following manner:

• Relevant news articles and internet postings will be reposted, summarized and/or linked to, sometimes accompanied by commentary.
  
• Other commentary will be presented on a topical basis.
  
• Narrative and descriptive accounts will be presented on the life and conditions of laborers.
  
• Interviews with laborers, when possible, will be posted.
  
• Photos will be used to illustrate commentary, provide a graphical record of conditions or simply to introduce some of the workers.

This,initially, will be the focus of this blog, which may be expanded as the issues are explored or if others become involved.

Why?

It is hard to live in the UAE and not feel some compassion for the many people seen laboring in the hot sun constructing roads and buildings and carrying out all manner of civil works. Added to this is the knowledge that wages are meagre and, even at that, sometimes unpaid for months. Furthermore, one can see the burgeoning of a mature and developed property market, where end-users pay millions of dirham for modest homes and apartments, while wages being paid the laborers who build them remain largely unchanged. A certain amount sympathy arises for the workers and even anger toward a system that allows such problems to persist.

Granted, all in the UAE are in some way part of the system and thereby bear some culpability. With this in mind many will feel moved and some even moved to action. The starting point, however, of any initiative is knowledge and awareness, to which this blog is aimed at providing.

Why not?

The UAE is not exactly a country where freedom of expression is limitless. There does, however, seem to be a growing amount of liberalism. Constructive criticism, it would seem, is not unwelcome. That being said, the laborers themselves are often reluctant to complain--especially when whatever is said might be traced back to them. They fear not so much the government, as their own employers. They are usually even reluctant to speak anonymously.

Under such circumstances, voices on this issue have remained muted. Whether it is the laborer, himself, or those like myself who feel some desire to examine the issues more closely, there have always been a great amount of reluctance to voice one's concerns.

See most recent post or go to In the News.