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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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 Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:56 am Post subject: Dubai: A Morally Bankrupt Dictatorship Built by Slave Labor |
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Published on Friday, November 27, 2009 by the Independent/UK
Dubai: A Morally Bankrupt Dictatorship Built by Slave Labor
by Johann Hari
Dubai is finally financially bankrupt - but it has been morally bankrupt all along. The idea that Dubai is an oasis of freedom on the Arabian peninsular is one of the great lies of our time.
Yes, it has Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts and the Gucci styles, but beneath these accoutrements, there is a dictatorship built by slaves.
If you go there with your eyes open - as I did earlier this year - the truth is hidden in plain view. The tour books and the bragging Emiratis will tell you the city was built by Sheikh Mohammed, the country's hereditary ruler.
It is untrue. The people who really built the city can be seen in long chain-gangs by the side of the road, or toiling all day at the top of the tallest buildings in the world, in heat that Westerners are told not to stay in for more than 10 minutes. They were conned into coming, and trapped into staying.
In their home country - Bangladesh or the Philippines or India - these workers are told they can earn a fortune in Dubai if they pay a large upfront fee. When they arrive, their passports are taken from them, and they are told their wages are a tenth of the rate they were promised.
They end up working in extremely dangerous conditions for years, just to pay back their initial debt. They are ringed-off in filthy tent-cities outside Dubai, where they sleep in weeping heat, next to open sewage. They have no way to go home. And if they try to strike for better conditions, they are beaten by the police.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/11/27-4 |
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Pluto
Joined: 19 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 10:21 am Post subject: |
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You may enjoy this wrt Dubai:
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| It defies explanation how a state with debtors' prisons, no bankruptcy proceedings to speak of, slave labor punctuated by the seizure of workers' passports and brazenly broken employment contracts left unenforced by local authorities, almost non-existent freedom of the press, arbitrary and draconian drug enforcement, a ban on homosexuality punishable by lengthy prison terms, government filtering of the internet, rank favoritism in the form of selective enforcement against non-citizens, massive subsidization of the Emirati caste for everything from housing to education, labor laws that make it near impossible to fire a citizen but that grant effectively no rights at all to expatriates, academic oppression by the secret police, no religious freedom of any kind, no woman's suffrage, no men's suffrage, massive, unchecked deficit spending, and, to top it all off, a totalitarian monarchy with what amounts to unlimited power, could even remotely be described as "global" "liberal" "neo" or "capitalist," much less a poster state for "global neo-liberal capitalism." The only real laissez faire aspects of Dubai's existence are lax immigration policies (until one is unemployed) and the absence of income tax. |
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/what-dubai-says-about-capitalism-not-much |
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bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 10:57 am Post subject: |
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| The only thing current about this story is the financial bankruptcy. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 3:27 pm Post subject: |
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| the pyramids of Egypt were no less morally bankrupt |
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ytuque
Joined: 29 Jan 2008
Location: I drink therefore I am!
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| Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 5:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Nearly all of the countries in the region are morally bankrupt dictatorships. |
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ED209
Joined: 17 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:00 pm Post subject: |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
| the pyramids of Egypt were no less morally bankrupt |
Hopefully these immigrant workers won't have to wait 3000years to see changes. |
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mekku
Joined: 22 Jul 2006
Location: daegu, korea
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| Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 5:12 am Post subject: |
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on thursday my students told me that koreans are building the world's tallest building in dubai.....there's no way it is completely built by koreans but my kids were pretty certain it was  |
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djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
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| Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 8:00 am Post subject: |
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| mekku wrote: |
| on thursday my students told me that koreans are building the world's tallest building in dubai.....there's no way it is completely built by koreans but my kids were pretty certain it was |
Well, if they said Koreans are building it, they aren't too far off:
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| The tower is being constructed by a South Korean company, Samsung Engineering & Construction, which also built the Petronas Twin Towers and the Taipei 101.[44] Samsung Engineering & Construction is building the tower in a joint venture with Besix from Belgium and Arabtec from UAE. Turner is the Project Manager on the main construction contract. |
You have been schooled by children. Go back to your officetel and sulk. |
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Kikomom
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: them thar hills--Penna, USA--Zippy is my kid, the teacher in ROK. You can call me Kiko
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| Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 6:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Jeff Foxworthy wants that kid on "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader". How's their Engrish? |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 6:56 pm Post subject: |
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| djsmnc wrote: |
| mekku wrote: |
| on thursday my students told me that koreans are building the world's tallest building in dubai.....there's no way it is completely built by koreans but my kids were pretty certain it was |
Well, if they said Koreans are building it, they aren't too far off:
| Quote: |
| The tower is being constructed by a South Korean company, Samsung Engineering & Construction, which also built the Petronas Twin Towers and the Taipei 101.[44] Samsung Engineering & Construction is building the tower in a joint venture with Besix from Belgium and Arabtec from UAE. Turner is the Project Manager on the main construction contract. |
You have been schooled by children. Go back to your officetel and sulk. |
I think Mekku meant the labor behind the building isn't Korean. I don't think he was doubting Koreans had no role in the Burj Dubai. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 7:20 pm Post subject: |
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| bucheon bum wrote: |
| djsmnc wrote: |
| mekku wrote: |
| on thursday my students told me that koreans are building the world's tallest building in dubai.....there's no way it is completely built by koreans but my kids were pretty certain it was |
Well, if they said Koreans are building it, they aren't too far off:
| Quote: |
| The tower is being constructed by a South Korean company, Samsung Engineering & Construction, which also built the Petronas Twin Towers and the Taipei 101.[44] Samsung Engineering & Construction is building the tower in a joint venture with Besix from Belgium and Arabtec from UAE. Turner is the Project Manager on the main construction contract. |
You have been schooled by children. Go back to your officetel and sulk. |
I think Mekku meant the labor behind the building isn't Korean. I don't think he was doubting Koreans had no role in the Burj Dubai. |
Mekku was right; the project is a joint venture involving Samsung, Besix, and Arabtec, with Turner LTD managing. |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 11:21 am Post subject: |
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I support better pay for the workers, more protection for them. I understand having them working in very hot conditions because Dubai is a very hot place, and they can't change that. Debtor's prison should be eliminated. As far as exploiting people, many countries do that outside of the region. Korea does that to a certain extent with Filipino workers who work in Korea. The United States has companies who have it done long distance, outside America's borders.
Anyway, Dubai over did it with its overbuilding. It spent way more than the revenue that was coming in. |
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Jeonmunka
Joined: 05 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 3:13 pm Post subject: |
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I only have two words: The first has four letters and starts with F the other starts with a D.
Evil place. The emodiment of Evil. |
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djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
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| Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 4:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
I think Mekku meant the labor behind the building isn't Korean. I don't think he was doubting Koreans had no role in the Burj Dubai. |
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Mekku was right; the project is a joint venture involving Samsung, Besix, and Arabtec, with Turner LTD managing. |
No comment |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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