Asian strikers face deportation from Dubai
Oct 31 2007 12:09
Asian strikers face deportation from Dubai
By James Sustins
Last Updated: 12:24am GMT 31/10/2007
THE TELEGRAPH
Thousands of Asian labourers working in Dubai, many of whom earn as little as £6 a day, face deportation over illegal pay strikes.
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Meanwhile, in the Jebel Ali industrial area, riot police surround a camp where Asian workers went on strike over pay and conditions
In rare scenes in the Gulf emirate, home to the £1,000-a-night Burj al Arab hotel, riot police wielding baton and water canon, intervened as several thousand protesting workers took control of a building on Saturday.
The protests – which the local Labour Ministry described as "uncivilised" and "barbaric" – saw some workers hurling stones at police and passing civilian vehicles.
Strike action and union membership is illegal under local law but, despite government warnings of deportation, intermittent protests continued on Sunday and yesterday.
Hundreds of the striking workers are said to have already been expelled from the country.
Pay and conditions for the workers – who are predominantly from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and who form the backbone of Dubai's booming construction industry – have been heavily criticised by international human rights groups.
Human Rights Watch has criticised working conditions in Dubai.
In a report in November last year it said the local construction boom had been made possible only through "wage exploitation, indebtedness to recruiters, and working conditions that are hazardous to the point of being deadly".
Strike action is not rare, but often goes unreported by the media.
In August, about 500 foreign workers protested over low pay and poor working conditions, while two years ago 800 workers blocked Dubai's main thoroughfare to protest about non-payment of wages for four months.
Oct 31 2007 14:49
#2
There was an article or two on this on libcom last year, not an awful lot of info though I don't think.
Oct 31 2007 15:49
#3
There is some research on MERIP (Middle East Information and Research Project)
Striking Egyptian workers:
http://www.merip.org/mero/mero032507.html
more on Egyptian disputes:
http://www.merip.org/mero/mero050907.html
A more up-to-date piece (though the other two are from this year) is here:
http://www.merip.org/mero/mero092907.html
Worth keeping an eye on Egypt.
EDIT: The UAE currency, the Dhiram, is tied to the dollar. A recent steep decline in its value has probably prompted the latest round of strike actions. Workers are paid little but send most of their money home.
According to reports on Al Jazeera and AP, the government amnesty which offered free air tickets back home for illegal workers, no questions asked, proved so popular that there is now a shortage of workers for big vanity projects such as Burj Dubai, the world's tallest building. Over 280,000 workers went back to India, Pakistan or Bangladesh, where comparable work is available - without the 45-50C heat.
Oct 31 2007 16:14
#4
Quote:
I have an old article in 'Midnight Notes' which touches on worker resistance across this belt. Any other resources?
Sphinx is this specifically on migrant workers or just working class in ME in general. Can you provide a link in any case?
Marshall, all those articles are in fact in the libcom library.
Quote:
According to reports on Al Jazeera and AP, the government amnesty which offered free air tickets back home for illegal workers
I thought this was the Indian embassy only, and only for Indian workers? Or was it an NGO that orgnized this through the indian embassy. I don't think the UAE goverment would pay for anything like this.
Nov 3 2007 01:44
#5
Will there ever be a history written of these brave foreign workers in the middle east? From Egypt to Saudi Arabia to Dubai...
I have an old article in 'Midnight Notes' which touches on worker resistance across this belt. Any other resources?