{"id":62214,"date":"2015-08-10T12:00:29","date_gmt":"2015-08-10T11:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=62214"},"modified":"2015-08-07T13:24:25","modified_gmt":"2015-08-07T12:24:25","slug":"dubais-skyline-is-a-monument-to-oppression-not-prosperity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2015\/08\/dubais-skyline-is-a-monument-to-oppression-not-prosperity\/","title":{"rendered":"Dubai\u2019s Skyline Is a Monument to Oppression, Not Prosperity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Visual artist Arko Datto combines satellite images and text to paint a picture of migrant workers\u2019 lives in the Arabian Peninsula \u2014 and his findings aren’t pretty. <\/em><\/p>\n

\"Burj<\/a>

Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest building in the world. (Source: Arko Datto)<\/p><\/div>\n

Over the past few decades, the booming oil economy and real estate market in the United Arab Emirates have earned the nation a reputation for opulent wealth. From towering skyscrapers, man-made islands, and indoor ski-slopes to sprawling highways and bridges, the UAE \u2014 and Dubai especially \u2014 has become synonymous with resplendent metropolitanism.<\/p>\n

At first glance, Dubai\u2019s rapid urban development seems to be nothing short of a modern engineering miracle. Viral images<\/a> depict a massive city rising from the desert over just 20 years, a virtually unprecedented amount of growth in such a short period of time. This development has been praised as the world\u2019s fastest<\/a>, and the buildings themselves have been lauded<\/a> for their \u201csophistication\u201d and \u201cauthenticity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dubai\u2019s astonishing growth is generally credited with transforming the entire UAE for the better. Beneath Dubai\u2019s veneer of progress, however, something is very, very wrong.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s glitzy buildings and highways \u2014 traditionally seen as monuments to the entire region\u2019s economic success \u2014 are testaments to the work done by migrant workers from Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch<\/a> estimates that over 5 million low-paid migrant workers currently reside in the United Arab Emirates alone, a population far exceeding the country\u2019s nationals and largely responsible for shaping the region into the economic and architectural juggernaut it is today. Yet these workers are all but invisible in the cities they built. Stowed away in ramshackle compounds and forced to work long hours in oppressive heat, they\u2019re deliberately kept away from the public eye.<\/p>\n

Juxtaposition<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arko Datto<\/a>, a visual artist currently based in India, is well aware of this fact. While traveling, he recalls being \u201cfascinated with the bustling megalopolises of Arabia, a cold post-apocalyptic vision of towering megaliths seen across the hazy abrasive heat.\u201d<\/p>\n

This interest, combined with recent developments in satellite imaging technology, culminated in Crossings: Promenades in the Arabian Desert<\/em><\/a> \u2014 an art project combining Google Earth and Maps images with quotations about the reality of migrant workers in the region, derived from firsthand accounts and fact-finding reports.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>

An excerpt from the digital book version of Crossings.<\/p><\/div>\n

According to Datto, the project shows \u201cthe society that the migrant diaspora has helped construct, shape, and maintain while occupying the bottom echelons of society.\u201d In Crossings,<\/em> he weaves a story detailing the plight of migrant workers, creating a narrative of their experiences in both the UAE and the Arabian Peninsula as a whole.<\/p>\n

The media has already uncovered Qatar\u2019s deplorable worker\u2019s rights track record, amidst FIFA\u2019s decision to grant the country\u2019s bid to host the 2022 World Cup<\/a>. The Guardian<\/em> reports that Nepalese migrant workers died at a rate of one every two days<\/a> in 2014 \u2014 a figure that excludes workers from other ethnic backgrounds, which would drive the number\u00a0up significantly.<\/p>\n

This international scrutiny has yet to shift to other rights offenders in the region, a glaring omission that Datto is helping to remedy.<\/p>\n

In the Shadow of Glitz<\/strong><\/p>\n

Throughout the digital book, stunning satellite images of architectural landmarks are juxtaposed with interviews from migrant workers, Emirati foremen, and Western expatriates, along with excerpts from legal and human rights briefs. Together, these divergent sources help paint a picture of daily life for migrant workers \u2014 and it\u2019s far from a pretty one.<\/p>\n

These individuals are lured to the UAE with promises of high wages and easy living \u2014 conditions that are vast improvements from their previous lives.<\/p>\n

Sahinal Monir, a 24-year-old from Bangladesh, described his recruitment story to the Independent<\/em><\/a>. An employment agent arrived in his village, advertising monthly wages of \u00a3400 for a 9-to-5 construction job. Monir was promised \u201cgreat accommodation, great food, and fair treatment.\u201d He only had to take out a \u00a32,300 loan for a work visa \u2014 and that could be paid off, he was told, in \u201cthe first six months, easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Another<\/a>

Another excerpt from the digital book version of Crossings.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>It sounded too good to be true. And it was.<\/p>\n

As soon as Monir arrived in Dubai, the construction company immediately confiscated his passport. The company then told him that he would be working 14-hour days in the desert heat \u2014 where, as The Independent <\/em>reports<\/a>, \u00a0tourists are \u201cadvised not to stay outside for even five minutes in summer\u201d \u2014 for less than a quarter of the wages he\u2019d been promised.<\/p>\n

When Monir protested, the company told him to go home if the conditions weren\u2019t satisfactory. \u201cBut how can I go home? You have my passport, and I have no money for the ticket,\u201d he said. \u201cWell, then you\u2019d better get to work,\u201d they replied.<\/p>\n

Monir\u2019s living quarters embody the lie he was sold. He lives in a \u201ctiny, poky, concrete cell with triple-decker bunk-beds,\u201d which he shares with 11 other men. The lavatories in the camp \u2014 little more than glorified ditches \u2014 are \u201cbacked up with excrement and clouds of black flies,\u201d filling the entire facility with an unbearable stench. Monir has no access to air conditioning or fans, so the heat is \u201cunbearable. You cannot sleep. All you do is sweat and scratch all night.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Crossroads<\/strong><\/p>\n

Monir\u2019s story is one of many detailed in Crossings,<\/em> highlighting the systemic abuse faced by migrant workers. The juxtaposition of sprawling highways, gargantuan skyscrapers, and decadent artificial islands with these stories highlights the slavery-like conditions that made these monuments possible.<\/p>\n

In the context of the workers\u2019 stories, Dubai\u2019s architectural wonders shift from testaments to the city\u2019s cosmopolitanism to stark reminders of its reliance on systemic exploitation.<\/p>\n

Despite protests and increased scrutiny<\/a>, migrant workers\u2019 conditions in the UAE have yet to improve significantly. Though Crossings<\/em> elicits a sense of despair and hopelessness in the audience, the project is helping to bring these issues to a wider audience. \u201cI want to show to the world a bitter truth that is at the crossroads of capitalism and racism,\u201d Datto told Wired<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Crossings<\/em> undermines the carefully constructed \u201csilence\u201d maintained by the Emirati elite, delivering a clear and unavoidable message about the deplorable conditions of over 5 million migrant workers in the UAE. Only time will tell if the international community chooses to listen.<\/p>\n

Crossings: Promenades in the Arabian Desert is available for free at arkodatto.com\/crossing<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

_______________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

Laith Shakir is a fellow of the Next Leaders program at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original – fpif.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Visual artist Arko Datto combines satellite images and text to paint a picture of migrant workers\u2019 lives in the Arabian Peninsula \u2014 and his findings aren’t pretty. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-middle-east-north-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62214\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}