6 months ago we were living in a nice but basic apartment in the back streets of Ajman. I rather liked it. I'm not really a 5* kinda person and fortunately neither is Yvonne. But we had no work and were struggling and ultimately failing to pay the rent. Even after a lot of help from amazing friends.
So we had to stay with friends for a while. And this was when we discovered we were not alone. I have at least two other close friends in a similar position and they also knew people who also knew people. The recession has bitten really deep here and affected every level of our society.
Things are improving and I have a little work now- somewhat irregular but it covers the modern basics. I have an apartment again in Dubai. A nice one thanks to a good client and some smart negotiation.
I'm a highly privileged white European. Apart from the top tier Emitatis themselves - only about 20% of the population altogether and perhaps 20% of them in the top tier - we are the peak of local society with high salaries, fancy accommodation, good top level jobs in all manner of public and private enterprises. We're incredibly lucky.
And we're suffering too. Laid off; no jobs; facing eviction and facing deportation and in many many cases being jailed briefly for debt. If you don't make the payments on the Porsche you can't declare bankruptcy; you'll go to jail.
Imagine what it's like at the other end of the spectrum.
This week I read about a group of 30 odd Filipinas bought over as contract domestic staff. Maids. They live in a villa designed to hold a single family. 6 or 7 people max. Their employer has shut up shop. Gone broke. Their bills in the villa have gone unpaid as have their salaries. If there were any jobs they would not be allowed to take them. They are cut off from utilities - no electricity means no air-conditioning or fridges or lighting or cooking; no water for drinking or bathing. Sewage disposal is becoming problem as is garbage.
It's still 40C plus outside in the day and 33C or more at night. They sleep on the roof to try to get some relief from the stifling heat. They survive on handouts from friends and strangers. They can't even go home. Their now vanished employer has their passports and how could they pay for the tickets their employer was contractually bound to provide normally?
In some ways they are worse off than people in rural poverty in Africa or India or the Philipines. Because they have no experience of living like this or any of the survival skills needed. They are modern city dwellers returned to the stone age.
It is evil that this incredibly wealthy country that survives on the back of the indentured labour of people like these brave ladies will provide no help or support for the abandoned poor who are stuck because of the economic downturn that has me worrying if I can afford my internet connection and them worrying if they can get a drink of cold safe water. I should celebrate my good fortune. Instead I despair for their misfortune and help them out as best I can. It's not enough.
Our government should be helping too.
It validates what I was told early on after I arrived here. "Never forget, Martin." I was told by an old hand, "This is just another Third World country, but it's sheathed in a First World veneer". He was right.
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