Re: Lockdown
 

I have a feeling Dubai has more workers in camps than Singapore.

Ignoring the labour camps, there is also a pile of people all over Dubai that are 6-8 in a partitioned flat. All over the marina, JLT, Barsha, Tecom - places you wouldn’t always expect. Some of the shared villas in Satwa are pretty horrific.

Re: Lockdown
 

Oh for sure, I think I read that Singapore had 300,000 workers in shared accommodation. Dubai must have way more.

Re: Lockdown
 

Had friends in a fancy villa in Umm Suqeim, prime location within 10 minutes' walk from the beaches. Across the street was an older single story villa that was clearly partitioned housing of some kind. Always had 20 or so Corollas parked outside it. I once passed it when someone came out of the front gates and you could see it opened into a makeshift tunnel divided by drapes. Quite a few older villas were subdivided into group housing or staff housing. I remember my friends talking about another property further up their street being used as a staff housing for a few months before someone complained and the municipality kicked them out. But somehow this villa across from them remained undetected, suggesting an influential Emirati landlord.

Re: Lockdown
 

In my time in Ruwais, I befriended one of the Nepali tea boys - Before I left I gave him my old phone, and he has been my best friend ever since.

Been chatting to him on facebook, asking him how it is going for him, off work, unpaid and in a labour camp - from what he is describing - I would genuinely rather have a 3 month stint in prison here in the UK than being 'free' and what they are having to endure. That perhaps is even true during normal times tbf, but definitely now.

Re: Lockdown
 

Yes, I knew the same in Dubai, but much more discreet - you couldn't tell from the outside. It had basically been converted into a hostel. Influential tenant + influential landlord.

Re: Lockdown
 

That's pretty much standard accommodation for many lower paid employees across a lot of the ME region I think. Filipinos in Qatar typically share one large three or 4 bedroom flat between 8-12 people. Not uncommon for some to share bedspace, dayshift/nightshift changeover. A lot of larger older villas are divided into separate small apartments which are then each shared by 3-5 people. Apparently illegal but seemingly zero enforcement until someone needs it.

Re: Lockdown
 

almost all the old villas on the road from city walk to satwa are high density labour accommodation. I’ve been in a couple and it’s easy to find six+ to a room. 10 Filipinos in a room in satwa is not uncommon. Remember that when you’re considering employing a live out housemaid/ cleaner.

Re: Lockdown
 

Mass testing areas now being put together at Expo and Dubai Parks & Resorts . Big focus now for labour .

Re: Lockdown
 

Anyone seen the videos coming out of Naïf overnight?

Re: Lockdown
 

Ive heard some nasty rumours for that part of town .

Re: Lockdown
 

I think about 50% of the UAE population are NRIs, so you can extrapolate from that as you will how many are in migrant accommodation.

Re: Lockdown
 

No. Links please. Youtube?

Re: Lockdown
 

I don’t have them. 🙂

Re: Lockdown
 

Let me guess, ambulances everywhere?

Re: Lockdown
 

I'm not going to post on this again until there is a societal consensus, but wanted to point out the following:

• WHO in March - death rate estimated @ 6%,
• Imperial College last week of March - death rate estimated @ less than 1%
• University of Bonn - first week in April - death rate estimated @ 0.37% based on first serology study (more reliable)
• Stanford University - third week in April - death rate estimated @ as low as 0.1%, based on second serology test (most reliable)

I'm sure we can all spot the trend and in time I believe current events will be seen as an overreaction of historic proportions. But meanwhile, let's continue to burn the world..

:popcorn: