To wonder what happens to the maids and nannies etc when people flee Dubai/the Middle East

Yes, perhaps I am naive. I just can't imagine having a domestic employee from a developing country and not treating them well. And I think most people I know would do the same. Not that I can really imagine employing a live-in maid or nanny anyway.

Yes, perhaps I am naive. I just can't imagine having a domestic employee from a developing country and not treating them well. And I think most people I know would do the same. Not that I can really imagine employing a live-in maid or nanny anyway.

Are maids ever male?

Do English maids/nannies ever go to work in Dubai, as we are constantly told on here by many posters it is a wonderful place to live?

The culture in Dubai seems to encourage underpaying.

And the kafala system is exploitative by design.

I'm proud to be British, but it seems naive to assume British people are necessarily much less likely to be cruel.

Remember domestic service was common until not that long ago, and there was often unfair treatment. Sexual harassment by masters, for one. Or the fact that masters & mistresses would often decide on a new name for a servant if they thought their real name was too fancy & might make them uppity.

No, that's awful. But how do you know what Brits are paying these days?

Are maids ever male?

Do English maids/nannies ever go to work in Dubai, as we are constantly told on here by many posters it is a wonderful place to live?

That is a sweeping generalisation, Purple. Why would you think such a thing? Us Brits are not generally known for being cruel slave-drivers. I would assume that most British people would pay for their helper's flight home and give them a few months' wages. I would, anyway, and so would everyone I know.

Also, you talk about a personal relationship that is unbalanced, but again, why the assumption that British people are exploiting and underpaying their helpers? Maybe I'm naive, but I really would think that any Brits employing staff would treat them well and pay them well. We are not a culture that treats others badly. Not, say, like in India or South America, where staff are often treated very inhumanely.

Are maids ever male?

Do English maids/nannies ever go to work in Dubai, as we are constantly told on here by many posters it is a wonderful place to live?

Brits in Dubai are paying their servants the going rate, which is the equivalent of about £600 a month, for eight- to ten-hour days, six days a week. Does that strike you as overwhelmingly generous?

That is a sweeping generalisation, Purple. Why would you think such a thing? Us Brits are not generally known for being cruel slave-drivers. I would assume that most British people would pay for their helper's flight home and give them a few months' wages. I would, anyway, and so would everyone I know.

Also, you talk about a personal relationship that is unbalanced, but again, why the assumption that British people are exploiting and underpaying their helpers? Maybe I'm naive, but I really would think that any Brits employing staff would treat them well and pay them well. We are not a culture that treats others badly. Not, say, like in India or South America, where staff are often treated very inhumanely.

That is disgusting. Not even provided with water.

I highly doubt 99% of British people fleeing the middle east have had a single thought for the underpaid staff they're leaving behind.

I do agree that capitalism means that poor people look for opportunities some could think they might be better off working for pennies in Dubai than starving to death in the Philippines. That seems to be the argument for it - that it's probably better than the alternative. Which is really depressing. And I know that it's not the only problem in the world - almost everything is pretty unsettling when you really look into it; buying petrol, shopping on Amazon, etc. etc. But I think it takes a certain sort of person to deliberately participate in a personal relationship that is this unbalanced and have it literally staring you in the face every single day. It makes me really uncomfortable to think about.

Most people I know who live in the middle east are staying put. There are something like 300k brits living in the region, i think only a small percentage are returning or have returned already.
With regarda to the nannies and maids, I don't think they have such deep bonds as your mums nanny, if they do and the family is wealthy enough they will find a way to bring them or support them. But usually they don't have these bonds
I was in a corner store in kuwait when working there a few years ago and overheard some nannies talking and they were talking about the fact their employers didnt even provide them with drinking water...as they were buying their own water and food.

You just can't get the staff! 😁

I agree, airheads are gonna airhead!

This is exactly the right thing to do :)

This has a brief mention of taxi drivers and lower status servants from Dubai https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/11/the-shine-has-been-taken-off-dubai-faces-existential-threat-as-foreigners-flee-conflict

So of course our government is going to welcome these servant owners ‘home’ to the country they refused to pay taxes to, at our expense. Fucking hell. And of course Britain has exploitative practices here, it’s called ‘working’ especially in the public sectors. This world is fucked up now thanks to would be serf owners.

This is the Imdad Centre's (big domestic labour recruiter) thoughts on why you need a maid:

https://imdadhr.ae/blog/the-advantages-of-having-a-live-in-maid-in-dubai/

and a piece from The National about how small maid's rooms in new developments are, sometimes too small for a standard single bed, only fitting a child's bed.

https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/developers-in-uae-marketing-storage-space-as-maids-quarters-1.448646

Was this in Dubai though, or a similar economy effectively fuelled by modern day slavery?

I saw news stories of lots of pets being left behind, but I can't see any mention of the maids and nannies etc ? I am guessing it wouldn't always be simple to get them to England due to visas etc -so do they get booked on flights back to their homes?

My mum had a nanny growing up and she loved her as much as she loved her mum so I imagine this is a hard separation for some