We are being watched !!

[domesticgodessintraining]

A friend just called from the Middle East to say that the bored desperate housewives of Dubai are slagging us off ........

www.expatwoman.com/forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=171798

Morally bankrupt

land of slavery

The dark side

Human rights

migrant worker rights

The Stop the Traffik website is clear that it regards the sex trafficking of women into Dubai as still being a major issue, and it correlates this with the success of Dubai's growing hospitality industry and business economy. Women are being trafficked in not only from eastern Europe but also from arabic countries such as Morocco.

I'll reproduce a snippet below.

As you can see, the behaviour and the attitudes of the business and ex-pat community out in Dubai can have a positive effect in combating this vile exploitation if people recognise the problem and act.

I hope that this thread itself publicising the problem is a step forward.

...............................................................................................

Human trafficking has long been a major problem in the United Arab Emirates
Despite improvements in the law recently, there are still hundreds of women being trafficked to the Emirates and exploited in forced prostitution.

BUSINESS TRAVELLERS AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING campaigned with the European Parliament to get the UAE government to take action.

In the middle of this campaign a businessman contacted the campaign with information that he had encountered a woman in the lobby of a hotel in Dubai, who was obviously distressed and being exploited. She had been trafficked and the man helped her escape. When they went to the authorities, however, they put her in prison and then deported her back to Moldova.

BUSINESS TRAVELLERS AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING was able to help her find an organisation to aid her when she returned home.

The campaign also used the information to create more pressure for change in the UAE, with a journalist recently continuing to investigate the problems of trafficking in the UAE, and publishing an article in a major publication in Belgium. The journalist found that there were still hundreds of women being exploited and that well known hotel chains were not only involved, but the staff of the hotels were profiting from this exploitation.

The campaign continues, helping victims, informing the police and putting pressure on countries such as the UAE so that they can no longer turn a blind eye to the suffering of the victims of human trafficking.

Amnesty International report significant state-sanctioned human rights abuses in Dubai and the UAE, including the execution of minors.

Amnesty documents slavery, child sex trafficking and exploitation of foreign workers, as well as a reluctance of the Dubai authorities to act.

I'd like to reiterate my point that the agencies that charge the labourers for their jobs here, thus putting them into huge debt which they have to work for years to pay off are NOT FROM THE UAE! These agencies are primarily based in India and more and more of them are being banned here due to their unethical practices. Once these agencies are identified companies in the UAE do not use them for recruitment.

And the human trafficking issue is awful, the sex industry here is rife. But again this is a global issue and therefore simply doesn't stand up as an argument against the UAE as a place.

And Bijou you lived here yet you still refer to Dubai as a country? It's one emirate out of 7. Perhaps if you'd got out of your expat bubble and explored Fujeirah, Khor Fakkan, Liwa, the wadis you would have seen the beauty on offer in this country. Living somewhere that is only 40 years old as a country provides a fascinating history that all took place in (some of) our lifetime. I agree that if all you did was stay in Dubai and lived the expat bubble lifestyle it would not take long to go out of your tiny mind. There are many shallow, selfish, small minded expats who live beyond their means out here - but they're a figure of fun amongst both the local and normal expat communities and not the norm by any stretch of the imagination.

From my point of view... tourist version of Dubai/UAE I'd agree with a lot of what people are saying and even where I don't agree I'd understand your point of view... real Dubai/UAE when you look through the veneer and get involved in the local culture as well as your expat community = one of my favourite places on earth.

In fairness to the ladies posting from the UAE, there is no freedom of speech there, all websites, forums and media are monitored by the government, anyone seen to be negative towards the country or government can be jailed (dependant on what is said of course) That is why the thread that was originally started on the EW site has been deleted.

Of course human rights violations happen all over the world. Where I live, though, if I walked into a police station and reported the sexual exploitation of children, or debt-bondage, the police would act. I can also hold the police to account.

The British government does not execute minors.

The UK behaves like this because that is what the public demands.

Why would I choose to live in place that would not insist on basic human rights being enforced? What could possibly attract me to a country with such a known, dark underbelly?

wooly I mentioned anti Islamic sentiment in relation to posts about getting locked up for staying in a hotel with a DP, being spat at for having arms uncovered and the allegations of sexism. Certainly not just stirring but denigrating an entire country because of religious beliefs does appear to be anti Islamic.

I only have a problem with human rights abuses.

The fact that the slave traders aren't from the UAE doesn't really change anything, since the UAE is the place where the people are kept enslaved. And as has been pointed out already, some areas quite simply have a worse problem with trafficking and bonded labour than others.

It's the amount of state and community collusion (including denial) in the UAE that has surprised me.

denigrating an entire country because of religious beliefs does appear to be anti Islamic.

I, for one, am not denigrating Dubai because of the religious beliefs of its inhabitants. I am denigrating it because of its human rights abuses, like LineRunner. There is a difference.

LineRunner's post at 9.28 just about sums up my position, too.

The idea that there is no corruption in our police force in the UK is laughable and police brutality is still a major discussion point with regards to the british police force. The fact is that when I walk/fall out of a bar at 4am there are NO fights, NO muggings and I can walk home alone without fearing for my safety - not the case in the UK. The death penalty here is not commonly handed out, and if it is it tends to be in the hands of the victim's family who can grant a pardon to have the sentence changed to life imprisonment - most choose this option.

The human rights issues are being addressed and this young country is waking up to the standards that it needs to attain. But these things take time. In the meantime we do the best we can to help those who are not treated equally and lead by example. Eg in the summer months many of us would hand out water to labourers, street sweepers or anyone working outside, last summer the majority of workers I saw all had water with them at all times. It's a small win but it does show the changing attitudes and how by quietly demonstrating how to make things better there is a lot we can do as expats to help things improve. Avoiding the place and ignoring the situation doesn't help anything. No it's not a place where you can launch big campaigns and make a lot of noise about things that need to change - as Bijou said, it's an autocratic society with little to no freedom of speech. But you can make a difference in your deeds, contributing positively without criticsing the current situation. And it's not just expats doing this - some of the most active in wanting to change the human rights issues are the emiratis - particularly the women. And slowly things are beginning to change. It's an exciting time to be here and to watch a country opening its eyes to how things should be. Salaries will no doubt remain low, but living and working conditions are much improved already and will continue to do so.

And for all the talk of being arrested for holding hands with your DPs... that's so Daily Mail! You can't snog the face off each other or feel each other up in public no - but personally I think it makes life in bars/clubs etc much nicer! Most people have stayed in hotels not married here (they don't take their husband's surname here so there's no way they would know if you're not married unless you tell them or draw so much attention to yourself they investigate). The police don't actively seek out those breaking the rules, they only act on reports. So as long as you don't piss anyone off enough to call the police it's a case of live and let live.

Sandinmyshoes I did travel extensively whilst living in the UAE, why would you assume I didn?t? I agree the desert is absolutely stunning. Once you have visited the Wadis, fujeirah, Al Ain and RAK it becomes same old, same old bland desolate landscape. Mosque visits are not really my thing, the theatre in Dubai was rather amateurish. Dubai museum was interesting but we had seen everything in 10 minutes as there is not a lot to see when a country is so new. Dubai Zoo was absolutely horrific, have you seen how the animals are kept?

I suppose it depends on what make you happy if you are happy there then great, I wanted/needed more than Dubai could offer me. I also felt I could not stay in a country so openly discriminative.

bijou

Why did you stay there for years Bijou, did it suit you at the time. Just seems strange that you seem to be judging those currently living there when you did the same for years as you said.

We had to fulfil our contract before we could return home.

I?m not judging you I am merely pointing out why I did not like living in the UAE.

In that case wooly I don't think there is that much between my view and the one you share with line runner (aside from the fact that I am content to live here and do my bit from the inside and you would quite clearly chew off your own arm )

I'm certainly not arguing against many points raised on this thread, I just loathe the broad brush "it's a racist, sexist, misogynistic hell hole" approach when this seems to be based entirely on a daily mail report of a girl who was deported for having sex in public and an article published several years ago which contained so many inaccuracies it was laughable.

Do you have any idea how patronising this sounds, SaraBellum:
seems to be based entirely on a daily mail report of a girl who was deported for having sex in public and an article published several years ago which contained so many inaccuracies it was laughable.

when people have posted recent, up to date links from international journals like Health and Human Rights (and believe me, it's not easy to get academic journal articles published - they are invariably evidence-based and peer-reviewed). If you prefer to persist with your stance that anyone objecting to what happens in Dubai is basing their opinion on DM articles and out of date stances then you really do have your head in the sand.

My maid's room (I don't have a live in maid but I do have a maid's room!) is on a self contained floor of its own - it's a good size double room with a large storage area and an en-suite shower room. It also has access to a roof terrace where she could chat to next door's maid if she wanted to. All the houses on my compound are like that. I have heard about these 'cupboards' but I have yet to see one. I think they might be in the older houses.

...argh! Not 'out of date stances', 'out of date newspaper reports'. That makes more sense!

Sorry, I'm not trying to say they don't exist (I have heard that too) only that I haven't seen one! I am not in Dubai but Qatar, although I don't think there is much difference in many respects.

My stance is not that anyone who objects to dubai is basing their opinion on DM articles. I'm not sure whether you are being so disingenuous as to deliberately misinterpret that but I thought my lack of comment in relation to HR abuses and explicit statement that I agreed with much of what was being said was clear enough.

I am however objecting to those that clearly are basing their opinions on the daily mail articles - the bullshit you will go to prison for holding hands, get spat at for wearing short sleeves, pay based on passport, racist/sexist stuff.

I specifically went to the Stop The Traffik and Amnesty International Websites because they are internationally respected and reputable human rights agencies, with up-to-date evidence and analysis.

I don't read the Daily Mail, by the way.