• Luxury and Labor in Dubai

    Luxury and Labor in Dubai

    2007: The building boom transforming Dubai's coastline and economy is attracting foreign business, tourists and investors from around the world and ratcheting up Dubai's GDP. Luxury is the new standard for nationals and expatriates and Dubai has been touted as the model of economic development in the Middle East. However, its exponential growth and wealth has come at the expense of over half a million migrant laborers toiling long hours in this construction frenzy in exchange for inequitable wages and squalid housing. They work eight to twelve hour shifts, six days a week, in up to 120-degree heat at sites with dangerous conditions. Labor laws are not enforced and trade unions, collective bargaining and strikes are illegal. While investors around the globe reap the financial rewards of the construction frenzy, the men physically building Dubai's new skyline are profiting little.In this image tourists enjoy a camel ride in front of newly constructed luxury resorts and residences alo

  • Investors pass by an architectural display at Cityscape Dubai, an international real estate and investment convention, at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre.

  • Patrons shop at the newly constructed Festival City shopping mall, which offers brand names and luxury items from around the world.

  • Migrant Laborers construct the second floor of a building in Deira, Dubai in front of an older mosque. .

  • Investors discuss business while looking at models of proposed projects at Cityscape Dubai, an international real estate and investment convention, at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre.

  • A tourist relaxes on Jumeirah Beach in view of the Burj Al Arab luxury hotel.

  • Patrons shop for luxury goods from around the world at the newly constructed Festival City shopping mall, while a migrant worker sweeps the floor.

  • Investors discuss business while looking at a model of a proposed project at Cityscape Dubai, an international real estate and investment convention, at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre.

  • Workers wait in line at a consturction site after their shift to board buses that will transport them back to their labor camp.

  • Migrant laborers build part of a mall complex in the new Marina section of the city.

  • Migrant laborers send money to their families in India and Pakistan at a money transfer center next to their labor camp in Al Quoz Industrial Area.

  • Migrant laborers rest and do chores at their camp in Sonapur between work shifts .

  • Migrant laborers rest in their room at the Al Quoz labor camp, where men sleep from four to fourteen to a room.

  • Migrant laborers cook food communally at their camp in the Al Quoz Industrial Area.

  • Migrant laborers play cricket in Deira, Dubai on Friday, which is their only day off.

  • Migrant laborers conduct their evening Ramadan prayers after their shift in an overflow area outside a mosque in the Al Quoz labor camp.

  • Migrant laborers stand on a walkway in the Al Quoz labor camp after returning from their shift.