Dubai Expo 2020 Promises Fairytale, Delivers Nightmare to Workers
4 Min Read
The Expo's inhumane working conditions are not the first to be recorded in the UAE.
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Workers clean an area at the Dubai Expo (The Washington Post)
According to the Washington Post, despite Dubai having invested billions in creating a seemingly-immaculate experience at the 2020 Expo, complaints from workers have trickled through the cracks and tainted its pretty image with very ugly poor working conditions.
The labor practices of Dubai are not something never-before discussed.
Unpaid and overworked
According to Reuters, the UAE acknowledged in early September that it had detained and deported over 400 people for alleged human trafficking, assault, and extortion.
Group deportations are frequent in the UAE, and they are commonly paired with migrants being sent home without paychecks they are owed.
Failed labor sponsorship
Over two dozen workers were interviewed by The Associated Press. According to human rights groups, there have been constant violations due to the UAE's labor sponsorship system, which is based on a network of international subcontractors, binds employees' residency to employment, and gives businesses disproportionate authority.
Employees have reported among many concerns: forced and illegal payments to local recruiters in order to work at the Expo, having their passports confiscated, living in unsanitary conditions, and working up to 70 hours per week.
Mustafa Qadri, an executive director of Equidem, a labor rights consultancy that reported on the Expo workers' maltreatment during the epidemic, says, “You can have the best standards in the world, but if you have this inherent power imbalance, workers are in a situation where they’re at risk of exploitation all the time.”
No passport, no problem
Allegations of unlawful recruiting fees and passport confiscation were not commented on by the Expo in response to AP's concerns.
When the European Parliament called for a boycott of the event, the UAE called their allegations "Factually incorrect," but provided no further defense.
The AP's persistent efforts for comment from Emirati officials went unanswered.
Equidem reported numerous cases of abuse at the site's construction at the beginning of the pandemic. Wages and termination benefits were withheld from employees.
In one case, over 80 individuals shared a single toilet. Many were stripped of passports and documents, rendering them unable to leave.
Some cleaning staff signed consent forms that were unclear to them, which allowed companies to take their passports.
In a country that boasts about technological advancement and billions in wealth, but still maintains a system where fleeing from one's employer is a reason for detainment or deportation, the lack of freedom is astounding.
Starving for freedom
Insufficient food supply and long working hours were a repeated concern among workers when interviewed by the AP.
Eric, a Cameroonian janitor, reported that he complained to Dubai-based Emrill Services about the high cost of meals and having no kitchen access, but received no response. He and his coworkers earn less than $300 a month and receive no food budget.
“We don’t eat to our satisfaction, because if you do, you will have no salary by the month’s end.”
Arkan, an Abu-Dhabi-based construction company, promised security guards working at the expo entry hot meals during an eight-hour shift. Despite asking supervisors, workers have received nothing for over three months.
They detail harsh surveillance from supervisors and constant threats of pay cuts.
Guards have the longest shifts at the Expo, 13 hours and only 40 minutes for a lunch break. During the summer, Dubai routinely sees 50 degrees Celsius in the sweltering heat.
A 40-year-old guard from Kenya says there is "No freedom. Work, sleep, work, sleep. You just need to try to survive one day to another.”
