I’m not saying we should provide a one-sided view about maids in the Gulf. Complaints will exist and some are legitimate. However, journalists, columnists, bloggers and editors need to be extremely alert and cautious about how they are framing these issues. Maids lack a lot of legal rights in our countries, thanks in part to the sponsorship system which leaves them completely vulnerable to abuse, but they also suffer from a considerable amount of racist discrimination throughout our societies. Look no further than an average mall or an airport anywhere from Doha to Manama to witness the despicable treatment of South Asian workers. It’s common enough that it’s impossible to deny.

We need to highlight our outrage to these editors who don’t know any better than to publish this propaganda that seemingly encourage racism and normalizes classism. Why push for the idea that maids are “pampered” when they have incredibly demanding jobs under little to no protection? Why complain about the expenses involved in hiring a maid when they get the least amount of compensation which amount to nothing in comparison to the average salary in the Gulf? And more importantly, why amplify these self-absorbed voices instead of the voices of victims and their families that are barely recognized? Thousands of families are still demanding justice for their siblings, mothers, fathers, sons or daughters who have disappeared without trace upon arriving to our countries. They are forgotten and dismissed.

In a previous article I took similar issue with one of the other pieces published by this same paper. Sadly other local papers appear to have been inspired to be following a similar trend. This is a grave problem.

For a publication called Emirates 24/7 the editors should consider creating a section to discuss the “24/7 workers” who work insane hours on a daily basis to provide for complete strangers, sometimes under deplorable conditions. They spend years doing this. Some don’t come out of it alive. Some take their own lives. Some patiently go through each day despite not having their salaries paid on time or in full. Some get beaten to death. Some get raped.

This isn’t to generalize and claim that all domestic workers go through these issues, but they do happen in such frequency that we should be alarmed and informed enough to take action. We should never dismiss these as the “few” cases – there’s enough of these cases that makes this OUR problem. Every single week for an entire year there’s one story after another about these incidents and yet the outcry remains largely invisible particularly in these media outlets, who instead publish these horrid stories about maids being “pampered.”

So I have a few questions for Shuchita Kapur, one of the authors of such offensive and unnecessary op-ed pieces. You think it’s tough having to “pamper” a maid? Having to provide for her the way she gave up years of her life to provide for you? Having to grant this individual who catered to your every need a decent request? Go through one day as a maid and I assure you, you will never complain again. I’m confident it will change the tone of your stories when you realize the challenges and physical/psychological pressures involved in the job. When you are turned away from public spaces, mocked, dismissed, and harassed because the entire community around you deems you so pitiful to the point of worthlessness. When the idea of reuniting with your family is a distant dream that may or may never happen depending on nothing but pure “luck” because your protection is never guaranteed.

Shuchita, I doubt you have the strength required to endure this pain.

It might appear from the influx of tragic stories that these maids are weak and helpless. Make no mistake in assuming that. Most have the inspiring courage, determination, and patience necessary to survive decades of abuse, imprisoned in a household where they are taken advantage of, mistreated and never appreciated, all the while missing out on watching their own families grow. How many of us can go through that?

It’s time for us to urgently take a stance against trivializing abuse of migrant workers in the media.

Migrants in Libya face uncertain future:

A recent U.N. report estimates that over 7,000 prisoners remain detained in Libya. A substantial percentage of these men, women, and children are sub-Saharan African migrants caught up in the volatile transition of power. Accounts of arbitrary arrest and torture have been documented by human rights agencies throughout the revolution.
Read more.

Murder in Kuwait:

An Ethiopian maid was murdered by her employer on Tuesday. The man beat her for over a week because she allegedly refused to work, and her injuries were so severe that she suffered from internal bleeding. She collapsed after arguing with the man while he attempted to “return” her to the recruitment office.
Read more.

Lebanon: Suicide of an Ethiopian Domestic Worker in Tyr:

According to Lebanon’s National News Agency, an Ethiopian worker, Janet M. K., hung herself today using a laundry rope from the ceiling of the house of her employer in Bazourieh in Tyr, South Lebanon.
Read more.

All Eyes on Rizana Nafeek:

Saudi Arabia is set to behead another migrant worker unless Sri Lanka can persuade authorities to grant Rizana Nafeek amnesty. Media outlets worldwide are monitoring the story closely as part of the mounting attention Saudi’s policies have received since the June execution of Ruyati Binti Sapubi.
Read more.

Indonesia reevaluates bans, Saudi Arabia & related policies:

The Philippine’s 41-country ban (and subsequent deferral) made a splash last week, sparking discourse among different government agencies, migrants, and activist organizations. Though critics deemed the measures superficial, the sheer number of countries blacklisted have invigorated demands for more action from other nations. The Indonesian government subsequently responded to queries regarding recent changes to its own migration policies; Commentators speculate that the five month moratorium on labor export seems to have been lifted following informal agreements between the two nations.
Read more here and here.

Trivializing Abuse:

Headlines involving domestic workers in the Gulf often fall into one of two categories: the horrifying or the ‘quirky.’ Reactions to the former – a maid raped, a woman tortured and enslaved – are instantaneous: absolute revulsion. But condemnation of the latter is less apparent, less certain. The absurdity of these stories – for example, an employer complaining about a maid using her cell phone – appears somewhat lighthearted. Wrong, but essentially harmless; perhaps the product of a “funny” law, another oddity of the intersection between the Gulf’s culture and legal system.
Read more.

Perceptions & Rights in Lebanon:

Recent events in Lebanon illustrate the importance of social perceptions to migrant rights. An anonymous Lebanese resident is tackling the disparaging conception of road cleaners; the designer by trade has posted signs throughout Lebanese streets asking citizens to respect the Sukleen street cleaners, most of whom are migrant workers.
Read more.

Murder of a Kuwaiti woman may have lasting effects on migrants:

The murder of a Kuwaiti bride by her Ethiopian maid may have reverberating consequences for the nation’s migrants. The Ministry of Health intends to introduce a set of psychological evaluations that prospective foreigner workers must pass before their work visas are approved, adding to the already extensive and expensive medical procedures migrants are required to take.
Read more.

“Workers Emirates”:

WIth his lens, Chancel captures the Gulf’s theoretical ‘underside’, the part so visible yet so often excluded from the glossy magazine features and brochures.
Read more.

Embassy Acts as Sanctuary for Absconding Citizens:

Kuwaiti authorities are receiving complaints about an unnamed African Embassy protecting citizens that have absconded from their employers. Absconding, which involves leaving an employer in some manner without their consent, is a criminal offense under the Kuwaiti sponsorship system.
Read more.

Family of a maid who died in Jordan demanding investigation:

The family of Subhani M Lurdu, a Sri Lankan maid who reportedly died on the 17th of October during her employment in Jordan, is requesting an investigation. They’re also requesting that her body is sent back to Sri Lanka.
Read more.

Suicide of Detained Migrant Prompts Investigation:

The suicide of an Indonesian maid in Kuwaiti custody is drawing questions about the conditions of her imprisonment.The woman hung herself with her scarf, her severed neck indicating that she had not been checked up on for days. Current accounts of the case are conflicting; one reports that security officials attempted to save the woman, while another raises accusations of the neglect.
Read more.

UN urges Lebanon to Protect Domestic Workers:

The UN’s Special Rapporteur on modern day slavery is urging Lebanon to address the plight of its domestic workers. Gulnara Shahinian recounted conditions of the migrants she met in Lebanon; sexual abuse, contract violations, unfair hours, and domestic servitude regularly punctuated their experiences.
Read more.

For ongoing updates, follow us on Twitter @MigrantRights or on Facebook.

This compilation of reports are only from the past few weeks:

A Filipina domestic helper rendered blind by her sponsor in Kuwait after working without pay for a year [Source]

Herath Menika, a young Sri Lankan maid who worked in Bahrain, recounts the story of her abusive employers [Source]

An Indian man committed suicide in the house of his sponsor in Waha, Kuwait, while a housemaid attempts suicide [Source]

Abeline Baholiarisoa, a maid from Madagascar, forced to work as a “slave maid” for wealthy families in Lebanon for 15 years [Source]

Indian migrant workers harassed in Saudi Arabia [Source]

In Kuwait, more maids commit suicide [Source], while an Indian driver attempts to kill himself by slitting his wrists [Source]

A Filipino maid in her mid-30s attempts suicide in Kuwait [Source]

A housemaid raped in Kuwait [Source]

“Raped, battered, made pregnant, then kicked out: a common story for maids” (in the Middle East.) This story is about a Nepali maid in Saudi Arabia [Source]

Two men kidnapped and raped an Asian housemaid in Kuwait [Source]

Indonesian autopsy reveals violence killed maid in Saudi Arabia [Source]

Unspeakable cruelty: abused Ethiopian nanny found at Gadhafi compound [Source]

New ordeal for Indonesian who escaped Saudi sword [Source]

Kenyan woman working in Saudi Arabia seeks assistance to leave the country due to abusive employers [Source]

Kuwait: Asian ‘dies’ in sponsor’s home [Source] while another attempts suicide [Source]

Kenyans suffer in slavery in Saudi Arabia [Source]

Indonesian maid attempts suicide in Farwaniya, Kuwait [Source]

A murdered maid in the UAE was abused regularly [Source]

Nepali housemaid without pay for 3 months in Bahrain [Source]

Nepali worker commits suicide in the UAE [Source]

2 Emiratis, one of them a policeman, rape and then beat to death an Indonesian maid [Source]

Indian slave who was imprisoned for 3 years without pay was repatriated from Saudi Arabia [Source]

Bahrain: 2 Filipinos working for the Al Khalifa royal family have not been paid in 13 months [Source]

Indonesian migrant worker endured years of abuse [Source]

Indonesian maid attempts suicide in Al Baha, Saudi Arabia [Source]

Filipino maid found hanging in employers’ home in UAE [Source]

Video: Saudi man whipping a Bangladeshi garbage collector [Source]

Saudi Arabia: Indian maid injured while escaping her sponsors who locked her up and mistreated her [Source]

Oman: Unpaid migrants reduced to begging for food [Source]

30 Sri Lankan migrants go on a hunger strike in Iraq over months of unpaid wages [Source]

All of these cases took place very recently. Many might read these incidents once or twice a week, and could dismiss the abuse as infrequent. But these are just the cases that made it out to the media. If we continue to compile such lists day after day, you may safely consider this to be a mass crime approved by society and our governments, a crime with root causes that includes racism.

Of relevance, please read the following reports:

Kuwaiti Authorities Torture Migrant Workers to Death:

Two separate instances of Kuwaiti policemen and Ministry of Defense officials torturing migrant workers to death have surfaced in recent days.

Unfortunately, abuse of migrants by police are not unique in Kuwait. Recently, the Court of Appeals acquitted a policemen of torturing and raping two Filipinas. In April 2010 we’ve documented a previous case of kidnapping and raping of an Indonesian maid by a Kuwait police officer. In January 2010 a police officer in Kuwait admitted to raping women migrant workers for 15 years and then sending them off to the deportation center. On November 29, 2009 the Arab Times reported about the case of two maids who were kidnapped and gang-raped by a policemen and his friend and then sent to the deportation center. These reports illustrate how Kuwait state officials are able to abuse migrants with impunity. In these cases and many unreported ones the Kuwaiti police, which is supposed to protect abused workers, turns into another mechanism of oppression.

Read the full report here.

Every Two Days a Migrant Worker Attempts or Commits Suicide in Kuwait:

In a little over a month (35 days: February 19 – March 25), there have been 17 reported cases of migrant workers who committed or attempted to commit suicide in Kuwait. Local papers usually provide two sentences about each suicide in the “Crime” section, and their death is soon forgotten. Their nationality is sometimes mentioned, but names are not – it seems to interest no one. This harrowing trend is a reflection of poor working conditions, abuse from sponsors and the little protection migrant workers are offered in Kuwait.

Read the full report, with countless evidence of abuse, here.

Saudi “Justice”: Maid Torturer Acquitted

The horrific case of abuse of 23-year-old Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa by her Saudi sponsor once again illustrates the injustice inherent in Saudi Arabia’s justice system. In January, Sumiati’s woman employer was sentenced to three years in prison for stabbing, beating and burning Sumiati. However, this week, a Saudi court acquitted the woman of all charges.

Read the full report here.

The list goes on. And on.

Further coverage from around the web can be found here:

What does it take to end this nightmare that millions of migrant workers are experiencing in our neighborhoods right this second?

Because of the Japan nuclear crisis, set in motion by a 9.0 Richter Scale earthquake last week, world trade markets have been reeling, setting off unstable prices in foreign currencies, insurance markets, and nuclear technologies. The quake which has either killed or left unaccounted for some 15,000 people, could put millions more in peril should the nuclear situation deteriorate.

As I’ve said before – there is no insurance against nuclear reactors: you can buy insurance for your homes, you can buy it for your cars (there are tons of places online nowadays for cheap car insurance quotes), but there is no insurance to protect us against a nuclear disaster.

The world witnessed what happened at Chernobyl in the Ukraine in the 80s, and those of us who are older, saw the US disaster at Three Mile Island (links to Wikipedia). I implore all Mideast Youth bloggers and readers to push for reforms that stops the proliferation of nuclear energy development, for weapons and for power. As a child of the 70s, I grew up with fears that the Russian President Mikhail Gorbochev would nuke America and Canada (during the Cold War). And some say the world came “that close” to a full on nuclear war back then.

Countries like Turkey, Israel, Iran, Egypt and Jordan are far too unstable, politically and geologically, for nuclear energy of any kind. As we see news of the tragedy in Japan unfold, countries like Australia are offering uranium to the United Arab Emirates. The thought that such an unstable Middle East is pursuing nuclear energy with enthusiasm and no shame gives me nightmares.

Do we want to build a world that answers all our materialistic greed in the here and now?

Or one that our grandchildren will prosper in?

As the Arab world moves into the realm of a potential renaissance, please rethink the issue of nuclear, and can all existing programs that are on the table. If Japan – one of the world’s leaders in earthquake technologies, and like the Swiss – very organized – can’t keep its nuclear facilities in check, I only hazard to guess how idiotic it would be to build a nuclear plant in the midst of uprisings and fault lines. For more reading, Rola, over on Green Prophet gives a very good argument why the Middle East can’t risk investing in nuclear.

This ruling … is evidence that the authorities consider violence against women and children to be completely acceptable. Domestic violence should never be tolerated under any circumstances. These provisions are blatantly demeaning to women and pose serious risks to their well-being. The … ruling lets stand a law that is degrading, discriminatory, and outright dangerous for women and children. The UAE needs to come to grips with reality of domestic violence, repeal all discriminatory provisions sanctioning violence against women and children, enact laws that criminalize such behavior, and provide appropriate services to victims.

Via Jurist.

In the name of religion, lets not abuse our wives, girlfriends and daughters. Lets save humanity and spread peace.

The reason was the drastic steps in both countries to “protect” the users’ “privacy,” they will remain banning the service till the encrypted server at the BlackBerry communications data are transmitted directly from a server abroad to them. They claim otherwise this would threaten the “national security”. The technique could be abused. Other countries, including India and Bahrain are the BlackBerry technology skeptical and have not applied security concerns.

Human rights observers explain, however, the authority in the Gulf were irritated because they can not control and monitor data communications of its citizens. Thus, in the last week arrested several BlackBerry users in the UAE after they had agreed on the phone to a protest against rising fuel prices.

Saudi Arabia will also shut down Messenger service the BlackBerry smart phone. The IM service will be blocked until the Canadian BlackBerry maker “Research in Motion” the official requirements of the Saudi Arabian government fulfilled.

For the same reason the Canadian BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, the encrypted data and thus is removed from state control. The closed chat system is a major reason for the popularity of smartphones. In Saudi Arabia, about 700,000 people use BlackBerrys.

In the dispute over the data control of the smartphone will Saudi Arabia on Friday shut down the short message service, which seeks to prevent the Canadian company still in negotiations. India also insists on access to encrypted data: “Our position is clear: BlackBerry services provided by our authorities can not be monitored fully, must be interrupted,” quoted the Indian newspaper the Economic Times. The Group Research in Motion (RIM) had offered India to open up the technical details of specific services, The Indian authorities required but full access.

The Blackerry manufacturers has fallen in several countries Unlike the other cell phone companies can not RIM’s data flows through the servers of a local telephone company to run, but its own data centers in Canada and the UK. While this many of the 41 million users worldwide is used as selling point it is a complain for several states, especially from the Gulf region, lack of control over the data. Saudi Arabia wants to, not only in business but also in younger users of the popular Messenger service shut down the smartphone to prevent access to porn sites.

Criticism of the ban also came from Kuwait and Bahrain.

The Canadians protested that they had not been admitted in state special security issues and could not disclose the encryption of customer data. RIM technology chief David Yach said on Tuesday the government could have problems to enforce their threats, because they themselves were very dependent on the BlackBerry applications. RIM certainly would not budge from his promises that they had made to customer safety precautions. But it is possible that governments directly to companies used to check with a lawful authorization the e-mails of BlackBerry users,

The European Commission has decided, however, including for security against BlackBerrys for their 32,000 employees. . Experts expect that European concerns can ignite the fact that RIM run on all data streams data centers in Canada and the UK. This was at least in those countries – and possible also from the United States – an access to the data. The Interior Ministry in Berlin suggests the federal ministries to refrain from BlackBerrys. Therefore claimed that security concerns also.

The listed in the U.S. RIM’s shares lost about two percent in early trade

The locks are the latest chapter in an already protracted dispute between the Canadian mobile phone manufacturers and the governments of Arab countries. Last year, mobile operators had the state Etisalat BlackBerry users asked, Performance patch to install an alleged. RIM downgraded the update as a spyware and said it allows unauthorized access to personal and confidential data. Etisalat dismissed the accusations back then. Nevertheless, RIM provided instructions for removing the patch provides a.

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday the United States and the United Arab Emirates will hold talks on Blackberry use as she moved to ease a row over a UAE ban on messaging services, as Lebanon said it will assess security concerns linked to the use of BlackBerry smartphones.

“We are taking time to consult and analyze the full the range of interests and issues at stake because we know that there is a legitimate security concern,” Clinton told reporters.

“But there is also a legitimate right of free use and access. So I think we will be pursuing both technical and expert discussions as we go forward,” the chief U.S. diplomat said.

She said “it involves a very complex set of issues” that the United States is working on with other countries as well.

Clinton’s spokesman Philip Crowley on Monday criticized the decision by the United Arab Emirates to halt key BlackBerry messaging services, saying it “set a dangerous precedent” in limiting basic freedoms and rights.

“We are disappointed at this announcement,” Crowley said, adding the United States would ask the UAE authorities to clarify the reasons for their decision.

Lebanon, meanwhile, will assess security concerns linked to the use of BlackBerry smartphones following the arrest of several telecoms employees suspected of spying for Israel, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority chairman said on Thursday.

Imad Hoballah said the TRA plans to begin discussions next week with Research in Motion (RIM), BlackBerry’s Canada-based manufacturer.

“This is prompted by the increase of security issues that have been found with the telecommunications networks in Lebanon,” Hoballah told AFP.

“This is related to the ability of law enforcement agencies to access the data as may be required by law,” he added. “It’s basically access to the data or the servers in the country,” he said.

“We need to make an arrangement with BlackBerry or come to an understanding with them that satisfies law enforcement concerns.”

Lebanon is the latest country to express worries over RIM’s encrypted services — which involve data being routed through secure servers in Canada — because of fears they could be used by militants or others for criminal activities.

Lebanon has arrested three suspects over the past month in an expanding probe into an alleged network of Israeli spies employed in its hugely lucrative telecoms sector.

Two of the suspects worked at Alfa, one of Lebanon’s two mobile service providers, and the third was a former employee.

Press reports this week said an employee at Ogero, the government-owned telecoms operator, had also been arrested.

Overall, about 100 people have been arrested on suspicion of spying for the Israeli agency Mossad since April 2009, when the government launched a nationwide crackdown on alleged rings.

BlackBerry phones have been available in Lebanon for 18 months, and there are some 60,000 BlackBerry subscribers nationwide.

References:
- German news agency, DW
- NRK, Norwegien news agency
- Al-Arabyia news
- Elaf web site

It wasn’t so long ago when Shahram Amiri had surfaced, raising more questions as to whether he was abducted or not, and whether Saudi Arabia was involved in his alleged abduction and smuggling to the U.S. and how this would explain the claims of Saudi Arabia working with U.S. and Israel against Iran.

The Times of London had quoted an unnamed U.S. defense source as saying that the Saudis have given their permission for the Israelis to pass over and they will look the other way.

“They have already done tests to make sure their own jets aren’t scrambled and no one gets shot down. This has all been done with the agreement of the U.S. State Department.”

The report further continued by quoting a Saudi government source saying:

“We all know this. We will let them [the Israelis] through and see nothing.”

Given Israel would conduct an air strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the four main targets would be uranium enrichment facilities at Natanz and Qom, a gas storage development at Isfahan and a heavy-water reactor at Arak. Further more, secondary targets may include a Russian-built light water reactor at Bushehr, which could also produce nuclear weapons when complete.

A pass could be done over Iraq to perform the air strike, but it would require consent from the U.S., whose troops are currently occupying the country and so far the Obama Administration has refused to allow it.

Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf, the Saudi envoy to the U.K. speaking to the London-based Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, denied that report, saying such a move “would be against the policy adopted and followed by the Kingdom.” he reiterated the Saudi Arabia’s rejection of any violation of its territories or airspace, adding that it would be “illogical to allow the Israeli occupying force, with whom Saudi Arabia has no relations whatsoever, to use its land and airspace.” Later on this was followed by the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accusing Israel and the U.S. of attempting to sabotage the relationships between Saudi Arabia and Iran in his statement which he had said during a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s new ambassador to Tehran.

“Undoubtedly, the U.S. and the Zionist regime are the enemies of Iran and Saudi Arabia, so they are trying to create a gap between Tehran and Riyadh.”

Also declaring in his speech, the Iranian President said:

“If Iran and Saudi Arabia stand together, our enemies won’t dare continue with their aggressive behavior, with occupation and pressure on the Muslim world.”

However, a recent report from the WorldNetDaily news claimed Israeli Mossad chief Meir Dagan went on a secret visit to Saudi Arabia in recent weeks to discuss the threat of Iran, attributing the story to Arab sources. It also cites an Egyptian intelligence source saying that Saudi Arabia has been passing intelligence information to Israel related to Iran.

Given all this information, and whether it’s not certain if Saudi Arabia is indeed cooperating with the West in an attempt to halt Iran’s nuclear program in fears of it diminishing Saudi Arabia’s influence in the Middle East, this does not deny the fact that with the current sectarian tension between the Sunni and Shia sects, Saudi Arabia – and other Gulf states – share a certain degree of hostility with Iran, the UAE had already expressed it’s support of U.S. policy against Iran’s nuclear program, according to Youssef al-Otaiba, the UAE’s envoy to the U.S. who had reportedly said in a conference in Aspen,

“We cannot live with a nuclear Iran.”

The Sunni-Shiite struggle IS existent, the West is adding fuel to the fire, and whether or not Saudi Arabia is working with the West and Israel against Iran or not, and whether it would – along with other Gulf states – form an alliance with the West against Iran given war erupts, the possibility of Sunnis and Shiites getting along are quite slim, and this diminishes the possibility of the Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia, ruled by the Sunni Al-Saud family and governed by Islamic Shari’ah Law to have a strong alliance with the Islamic Republic of Iran, which adopts the Shiite sect and enforces a theocratic rule upon the state. And with Saudi Arabia’s past history of giving corridor to U.S. troops to pass through to Iraq during the Persian Gulf War in 1990 [Operation Desert Storm], this entire situation is just starting to look like Iraq 2.0 to me.

The editorial highlighted the International Labor Organization’s praise of the UAE’s Wage Protection System (WPS), stating that it is a model to be followed by other countries. The WPS has indeed helped to insure that documented migrant workers get their wages on time in the UAE, although cases of laborers going unpaid are still common.

The editorial goes on to say:

For years, the UAE was unfairly the target of media campaigns in the West with regard to the conditions under which low-skilled labourers work. It is refreshing to see the country receive credit for its efforts to protect the rights of these labourers.

The UAE has been appropriately targeted for the violation of migrant workers’ human rights by the media and human rights groups, including Migrant-Rights.org. The UAE offers little protection to migrant workers, as it ties them to local sponsors making them completely dependent on them for their livelihood and vulnerable to exploitation. The UAE forbids unionizing and strikes, and does not offer migrant workers minimum wage. The UAE doesn’t even bother enforcing its own laws when it comes to passport confiscations and altering of work contracts, which workers are subjected to quite often. Working conditions of construction workers are extremely poor and workers are often exploited. Domestic workers are not included under the realm of the country’s labor laws, they are not given a weekly rest day, their work hours are practically unlimited and they are not paid for overtime.

The editorial ends with this infuriating statement:

As UAE officials have often maintained, what is being done is not something we have had to do, but it is in line with the county’s social and humanitarian values.

The UAE is subjected to pressure from the U.S., sending countries of workers, international labor organization and international and local human rights organizations to improve its protection of migrant workers, which is extremely poor. The UAE is not based on “social and humanitarian values” but on exploitation of slave labor from the Third World. The UAE is a country where expatriates must be deported if they contract an infection disease, blue-collar workers are placed in segregated and overly populated labor camps, and where Emiratis serve one year in jail for burning a Pakistani man to death, while workers get the same sentence for iron scrap theft. The Gulf News’ perception of Emirati exceptionalism is based on anything but facts.

Cross-posted on Migrant Rights.

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Living in the UAE for the last 4 years taught me a very valuable lesson in restraint, respect and patience. It also made me realize that as much as you try to keep your end of the bargain, people will always find a way to put you down. If being of a certain racial descent is bad enough, try being gay. This automatically puts you in the bottom of the social food chain. Fair enough, there are a number of open minded citizens who gives “Caesar” what is due to him, but the hurtful few is the focus of this article. So far, these few have told me that I would eternally burn in hell, that I am a sinner and that I am unworthy of their friendships, that plainly because of the fact that I am gay, I am straightaway illogical. I can definitely list more but I think people reading this who are in the same position as I am actually get the point. These comments cut deep. They inflict irreparable damages. It’s like every single word uttered takes away a piece of your sense of self-worth.

This leaves you in a position where you have to constantly seek acceptance from people around you. You’re left broken and shattered to a million pieces. I, personally, would always put up a front and say that it doesn’t affect me anymore, but in truth if I had been back to my home country, I would have raised hell fighting for my rights as a human being! Some of you can say that it is my choice to live in a Muslim nation and that I should accept this kind of treatment, the answer is NO. I say respect has never been defined by religion or culture. Respect for personal freedom and inclinations are not a privilege… it’s a right! I don’t expect acceptance; rather I yearn for tolerance. Look not on our deviance; instead take a glimpse at our valuable inputs.

Fact is WE are staying. Get over it!