The boom in the property market of Dubai over recent years has cropped up a number of socio-economic issues. The darker side of swanky buildings and high-rise apartments is the ever-widening gulf between the rich and the poor in the emirate. Recent strikes by immigrant workers in the emirates are just one of the many offshoots of the immiscible social inequity.
Majority of construction workers and labourers in the UAE earn a meagre sum of 600-1000 AED per month, which is not even enough to make both ends meet in the region. In stark contrast is the average monthly salary in the emirates that amounts to 10,000 AED. One can very well imagine the anxiety and frustration of thousands of labourers who cannot send money home because they don’t have anything to spare.
Moreover, immigrant workers in the emirates are forced to live in shanty suburbs at the fringes of luxury homes, state of the art artificial islands and avant-garde buildings.
Measures that must be taken immediately:
• Stringent action against employers who impound workers’ passports in order to prevent them from seeking employment elsewhere.
• Stringent action against employers who cheat employees of a part of the pay.
• Ban on working under the scorching summer sun of the Gulf.
The consequences of workers’ discontent can be grave for the development of the emirates. Majority of workforce in the UAE is constituted of expatriates often from developing countries. These poor souls, usually under debts, come to the Gulf with hopes of improving living conditions back home.
With poor living and working conditions on foreign shores and not a penny to spare, no wonder the famed property boom of the region might halt due to shortage of labour.
High time all concerned looked at it from a humanitarian perspective as well.
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