Autonomy

Oh my god... Dubaibashing hits a new height. Maybe heard some before, but this puts things in a truly horrendous way. Perhaps justified in some cases...

Karen Andrews can't speak. Every time she starts to tell her story, she puts her head down and crumples. She is slim and angular and has the faded radiance of the once-rich, even though her clothes are as creased as her forehead. I find her in the car park of one of Dubai's finest international hotels, where she is living, in her Range Rover. She has been sleeping here for months, thanks to the kindness of the Bangladeshi car park attendants who don't have the heart to move her on. This is not where she thought her Dubai dream would end.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...i-1664368.html

Millsyisland

Wow - that is a 'revealing' article, although as usual generalising about the ex-pat lifestyle and views.

There must be something about Dubai in particular this week though, that's the third article I've read over the past few days about the same sort of thing.

Meow

Thanks for post that, I was waiting for the article as Johan Hari was here a couple of weeks ago.

Guess he went around in dark glasses though - pics of Sheik Mo on every other building?? 'Row after row of glass pyramids' ??

The expats didn't complain that workers in the back of trucks was unsightly. They complained that it was unsafe & inhumane.

He actually met with Roger and Elle of Helping Hands and they gave him a lot of information, but how odd that he forgot to mention that there are people here trying to make things better...

'A clearing house for the regions homosexuals' ? I can't work out if that is criticism or praise!


Anyone know any of the dickheads that the spoke to? Pisses me off when I see articles written like that implying that all expats are the same.


Another biased article written by a knob.

Spugsy

**** me...

'A Human Rights Watch study found there is a "cover-up of the true extent" of deaths from heat exhaustion, overwork and suicide, but the Indian consulate registered 971 deaths of their nationals in 2005 alone. After this figure was leaked, the consulates were told to stop counting.'

Meow

I hope that those who profess to be shocked by these stats, put their money where their mouth is. Helping Hands is desperate for funds to assist labourers.

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Autonomy

It did actually delve much deeper than the fluff before. I thought there was a deeper understanding, though still littered with generalisations. The first article in a while that actually spoke to Emaritis, Fillipinos, Brits and Indian / Pakistani labourers.

It made quite unsettling reading.

There were debatable points for sure, but this was far better than most...

Ronnie Biggs

This reads like it's been written by a Daily Mail journalist - my guess is he made half of it up. I think anyone with half a brain would look at this and instinctively know it's a load of bollocks; he's presented Dubai and everyone living there as a collection of one-dimensional stereotypes.

Johann Hari is clearly a bandwagon jumping, smug bellend.

Rog_Rams

So when was the last time you visited a labour camp? Or cleaned your own toilet?
And I presume you think that desalinating water for 2 million people and indoor ski slopes is sustainable?
And the restaurants ARE as full as 2 years ago? And The World will be fully inhabited? And sh1t is not floating up on to the beaches?
There ARE problems and it does no-one, even Dubai's biggest fans, any favours to dismiss them.
This article raises valuable points for consideration - to dismiss it as "bollocks" is lazy, short-sighted and laughable.

littlejimmy

Hari is usually a decent journo, and a lot of what he says is true. He is guilty of using some journalistic licence here though.

Blue Cat

there will be another book/dvd sale at the end of May

MataHari

it's not so much what he says, but the way he says it...
'He orders a Coke'...errrrr yeah...and?

NorthernLad

I'm not sure getting opinions from patrons of Double Decker gives a completely balanced view...yes some unsettling stuff, but nothing new on how workers from Asia are treated, and as for the situation with debts, it is something everyone should have been aware of...but I guess a lot of people from the west came thinking the streets are paved with gold and the party would never end.

I get the impression that a lot of these journalists come here expecting the place to be as liberal as the UK, and have the same rules and regulations. It's not.


http://www.kippreport.com/kipp/2009/...s-an-art-form/

Sky Blue

At least we now know where BM hangs out...

Sky Blue

Its an interesting article, I do agree that those interviewed with one or two exceptions do seem like a caricature reference - drunk brits, service sector filipino, bangladeshi labourer, Etheopian maid... He did miss out on a Pakistani taxi driver or is that just too blatant?

The other point is, that is Dubai the only territory in the Middle East with this perception of its use of expat labour(i use this term meaning for all non locals) - in all sectors of thier economies inc service, building, IT, etc etc...

Slingshot

nothing new really in this article
did not know that having an ethiopian maid was the new in thing - where does one get one?