Lockdown
Apr 17th 2020, 7:30 am
#91
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2009
Location: Disneyland, Dubai
Posts: 15,887
Re: Lockdown
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.
Apr 17th 2020, 2:36 pm
#93
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 3,520
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.
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.
Apr 17th 2020, 4:25 pm
#94
Just Joined
Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 12
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.
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.
Apr 18th 2020, 1:02 am
#95
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Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 2,900
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.
Apr 18th 2020, 4:38 am
#96
BE Enthusiast
Joined: May 2013
Location: Bangkok/Doha
Posts: 614
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.
Apr 18th 2020, 4:39 am
#97
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2009
Location: Disneyland, Dubai
Posts: 15,887
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.
Apr 18th 2020, 3:41 pm
#105
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 278
Re: Lockdown
It's a good article thanks and confirms that the case for social controls is irrefutable. As it says, far more cogently than I could manage (my emphasis):
"Nevertheless, the gap between what experts projected a few weeks ago and what they are projecting now is absolutely astounding, and it is primarily a reflection of just how much has been done, and how quickly, to defend against and respond to the coronavirus. In many cases, we have achieved so much more than modelers even imagined possible that the range of outcomes we are now looking at did not even appear at the very low end of initial forecasts. The models weren’t “wrong,” exactly, they seemingly just underestimated how widespread, thorough, and steadily maintained social-distancing measures could be."
"Nevertheless, the gap between what experts projected a few weeks ago and what they are projecting now is absolutely astounding, and it is primarily a reflection of just how much has been done, and how quickly, to defend against and respond to the coronavirus. In many cases, we have achieved so much more than modelers even imagined possible that the range of outcomes we are now looking at did not even appear at the very low end of initial forecasts. The models weren’t “wrong,” exactly, they seemingly just underestimated how widespread, thorough, and steadily maintained social-distancing measures could be."
- 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)
