Behind the glamourous lifestyle of Dubai lies the dark truth. A truth which is many people are not aware of. The darker side is termed as Kafala system.
The phenomenal growth in Dubai, is not possible without the effort put in by the laborer's and other man power. Mostly the labourer and workforce were from part of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The Dubai employer offers a higher pay package and other facilities. Seeing a high pay and lucrative offers, many people get ready to join the workforce to carry out different jobs. But none of them were assigned a direct employment letter. All of them were part of the Kafala System.
When foreign workers come to work in Dubai and other gulf countries, they cannot come to work directly. They come through a system which is called the kafala system. Through Kafala system, Government permits the employer of Dubai, that they can bring workers from other countries i.e outside of Dubai to carry out the different tasks. After this permission, employers ask for foreign workers through different placement channel. They offer money for their tickets, they also arrange for their shelter and a good salary.
The kafala system through which foreign workers come to Dubai, their employment, and staying visa is linked, so in a way instead of the government, the legal status of the foreign workers is in hands of a private individuals i.e., the employer. Government is no way directly involved with their working profile. Which means it goes in the hands of their employer. And this is a huge problem in this system. Because the employers which brings workers after sponsoring tickets and other things, if their worker wants to leave work, then it requires permission from the employer. For a foreign worker, leaving a job without permission is a crime. For which he/she can be punished as well. in such scenarios, the employee cannot even seek government involvement for their rescue. Kafala system is depicted as modern slavery in western media.
The working condition of laborer's are not pretty good. They pay less and in many case, employees misuse their situation. In this system, sometimes employers keep passports visa and phones of the worker. These worker lives in overcrowded domes. In some cases, contracts were signed by them through illegal ways. Because they don’t understand the local language. In some cases, their passports were sold to other employers.
There was a report of human rights watch in 2014, which showcased the real situation of females, who faced abuse. The reports say the females were abused by their employers, they were not given wages, they were not allowed to talk to their family members, they were forced to work for 20 hrs in a day, they were not allowed to sleep more than 4 hrs in a day. They were not given holidays or leave as well. There was no helpline number where they could complain about all this. UAE brough new workers protection law in 2017, which improved many things.
Even today, Dubai has been a dream destination for many people, they want to work and always looking for lucrative offers. Even many a times I got different work offers too, but never shown interest to join such kind of employment. In case, those who are only seeing the dazzling lifestyle need to be alert and choose the option wisely. I am not saying that the condition is to pathetic, but chose at your own risk and after considering all the employment offer and details.
