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Dubai: Land of Luxury, Land of Slavery, Land of Illusion, is soon to Fall

By investing in Dubai, celebrities are giving tacit approval to a hideous society and its obscene values.

By George Patrick
Oct. 2, 2008
Opinion

Faced with rapidly disappearing oil reserves, Dubai, one of the seven United Arab Emirates on the Persian Gulf, has decided to transform itself into one of the great tourist destinations of the world.

One of its strategies is to lure celebrities there. It's working. Already, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia, and Colin Montgomerie have all built or are building exclusive new golf courses there.

Greg Norman, the Great White Shark, is building sixty-six luxury homes there. Donald Trump is going to build a hotel. Giorgio Armani will outfit apartments, while Karl Lagerfeld will build luxury homes. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have bought one of the artificial islands Dubai is constructing out into Gulf waters.

Roger Federer has made Dubai his second home. The Beckhams vacation there. Manchester United, the biggest soccer club in the world, has a training camp there.

The question is: What in God's name are they doing there? Dubai is a slave society.

Not officially, of course. Dubai outlawed slavery forty-five years ago. Prostitution, too, is supposedly illegal. But beneath the ultra-modern skyscrapers, the luxurious hotels and the glitzy twenty-first century technology lies a primeval morass of squalor and depravity.

Whatever the law may say, there are whole areas of Dubai City given over to dozens of brothels where ten thousand women from Eastern Europe, the Far East, and Sub-Saharan Africa are held as sex slaves.
A Nightmare World

In a country measuring only forty miles by forty miles and containing only one city, it is farcical to suggest that the brothels and the sex slaves have somehow escaped the notice of the Emir's government.

In his book, A Crime So Monstrous, journalist E. Benjamin Skinner points out that his $16 ticket to get into the Cyclone brothel actually bore the official stamp of the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce.

Skinner interviewed many of the prostitutes, some of them in their early teens. Most of them, seeking to escape desperate poverty in their homelands, were offered the chance to be smuggled into Dubai with the promise of jobs as maids, etc. Then the snakeheads (people smugglers) sold them to brothels and kept their passports.

Now they were trapped and powerless in a nightmare world. Some Eastern European women were kept in line by threats to murder their families back home.

Other women smuggled into Dubai do get jobs working in households. Again, their employers keep their passports. Again, they are utterly in the power of men who rape and beat them and pay no wages.

Some Dubai married men keep foreign sex slaves in special apartments popularly known as "shag pads." If a desperate captive woman flees, the "owner" - in an echo of the "runaway slave" advertisements in pre-Civil War USA - will run an "absconding servant" advertisement in Dubai newspapers.

Foreign working men, if not exactly enslaved, are the next thing to it. The luxury hotels and apartments of Dubai where the celebrities live pampered lives are built by labourers (mostly from India) who are paid starvation wages - often months in arrears - amidst regular threats of violence.

Then there are the child slaves. Outside the city, there are farms where 6,000 boys, often kidnapped as babies, are held in bondage to serve as jockeys in the immensely popular camel races. They are frequently starved to keep their race weight down.

Protection for these grossly abused fellow humans is nonexistent. They don't seem to be viewed as humans at all. They are mere things to be used and discarded.
Tacit Approval

This, then, is the purulent society in which Angelina Jolie, Tiger Woods, Donald Trump et al. have chosen to invest their money and their reputations. By so doing they give tacit approval to a hideous society and its obscene values.

Has slavery (like torture and indefinite detention without trial) somehow become OK again? It's not that any of the celebrities mentioned are bad people. Most are probably fairly decent human beings. But we humans have a wonderful ability to avert our eyes from the inconvenient ugliness of life, especially when it conflicts with our own desires and interests.

The moral squalor at the heart of Dubai isn't exactly a secret. It's been well documented. A five minutes' Google of "Dubai" will reveal the truth. The celebs must surely know. Perhaps they tell themselves that, sadly, it's simply the harsh reality of the global free enterprise system.

Some of us make millions sinking putts and advertising Rolex watches; others are just pieces of meat to be sold, raped and rented out as semen receptacles. Sometimes the invisible hand in the marketplace is wielding a blackjack.

But what is happening in Dubai is surely so vile, so manifestly an affront to our dearest values, that one must ask again: What in God's name are they doing there?

Well that's all very well and good, but clearly Mr Patrick has not fully done his research sweetheart. Cyclone has been shut down for ages now, child jockeys were banned over a year ago and there are many other gross flaws to his piece.

What's your agenda BA? We all know what's happening here, but no-one is forcing anyone to stay are they.

Well then ,it is clear, they all came seeking Prostitution loooooooool

A bit outdated...as Chocs said.

BA, can you provide the link to the source of this article??


Yes there is some truth to some of the abuses mentioned, but that's the price this country has to pay for opening up to the world and embarking on this huge development program. I don't think the government approves of the abuses but it's a small government that's still struggling with dealing with such a massive influx of foreigners on its shores.

Give it time. I know they care about their image but I think they're just too outstretched right now!!!

Once again, a one sided cut and paste post. The facts are inaccurate throughout and there are inequalities and prostitution in every country in the world. Its not something unique to Dubai.

Why are the workers coming here in the first place? Its the lure of money and it happens in every society, ergo: we are a greedy species.

I would suggest that BA leave his 'British' bit behind and take his 'Arab' bit to Saudi Arabia...try 6 months, then let us see the tone of his posts!



Knight

Now that I have a little time, I would like to add 2 more points to what I said above:

RE: Prostitution:

I was in Germany last month, and they too have a problem with human trafficking and abused "prostitutes" from Eastern Europe. Prostitution is the oldest profession the world, and it comes with its evils: women abused by the pimps, organized crime, diseases, ..etc.


Dubai is no different from the rest of the world. The Dubai Police has busted several prostitution rings in the past but they don't have the manpower and the resources to arrest every whore and every pimp. The girls are easily brought in the country as tourists, and the authorities cannot track every woman who comes into the country!

I know you can see (and pickup) hookers over here at the night clubs and hotel lobbies,..etc, but that's true in every town that caters to tourism -- from Las Vegas to Bangkok. Open tourism is not without its dark side!!
-----------------

RE: the poor workers from India...etc:

I agree that they are underpaid and overworked. But that's unfortunately how the labor marketplace is, in Dubai and in all the countries in the region that import labor.

Yes, these workers are not forced to come to work in Dubai, and they make more than they make at home, but, nonetheless, I personally think they should be provided better protections (by the government) from their greedy and abusive employers. Some good measures have been taken in the right direction (with regards to housing standards and the 2 hr midday break…etc), but a lot more is needed.

-------

As Knight said it, another copy/paste situation here, and besides, this information is widely known so no, that ain't no scoop! As Tom Jones mentioned, prostitution and human trafficking are everywhere. I live in Canada, and you see pimps and prostitutes everywhere, drugs are widely available, organized crime is in control of the city or almost (there was a biker war that ended a few years ago which claimed 160 deaths, from drive by shooting to group slayings to car bombs, name it, if you wanna read about it google Rock Machines/Hells Angels war in Montreal) Oh and we do also get the occasional human trafficking case in the news as well. Dubai is not perfect, I'm sure, but I can guarantee there is less criminality there than in most western countries. Development brings money which in turn brings opportunity for criminals. That is a fatality, there is no way around that.

There are obviously problems here but that article contains lots of errors that make me question its validity.

In a country measuring only forty miles by forty miles and containing only one city

If the author doesn't even know that Dubai is not a country then what else has he got wrong?

britisharab you are the worst kind of poster. You're just spouting other people's words. Why don't you write your own first post, which you can back up with links to other articles if you need to. You might actually have something interesting to say, but these long copy/paste posts make me switch off.

Chocoholic wrote:Well that's all very well and good, but clearly Mr Patrick has not fully done his research sweetheart. Cyclone has been shut down for ages now, child jockeys were banned over a year ago and there are many other gross flaws to his piece.

What's your agenda BA? We all know what's happening here, but no-one is forcing anyone to stay are they.

HahAha, good one, nice to hear it like this....when there's money in the pot, who cares what's cooking.

Wait till the gauntlet falls, it won't be long, sweetheart.

The reason the celebs are here is because they are invited to do so. Tax free haven and mostly fantastic weather, of course they are tempted.

I think if any of us had their kind of money we would be doing the same thing. Its not in the interests of these public figures to be associated with prostituion and slave labour.

I'm sure they do all they can to help in such issues.

I doubt the celebrities give a damn. They are living in priviledged secure locations surrounded by flunkies, servants and maids...they will never get to see the seedy underbelly.

The chances of bumping into David and Victoria and kids hanging around outside the York International at midnight are...zero!



Knight

britisharab wrote:

Chocoholic wrote:Well that's all very well and good, but clearly Mr Patrick has not fully done his research sweetheart. Cyclone has been shut down for ages now, child jockeys were banned over a year ago and there are many other gross flaws to his piece.

What's your agenda BA? We all know what's happening here, but no-one is forcing anyone to stay are they.

HahAha, good one, nice to hear it like this....when there's money in the pot, who cares what's cooking.

Wait till the gauntlet falls, it won't be long, sweetheart.

ust being honest. But hey I'm happy here. Afterall I left my home country because of people like you. When you bugger off and leave us alone, then I'll return.

Dogs are Barking

Convoy Still Moving

And your point is?

ppl , Dubai (UAE) being bad or not , is a living example of how diff nationalities with diff religions can live in peace , it is really rare to find such a place, some says there is racisms but how bad is it ? almost none. I believe we are doing alright concedring many aspects.

living in it is not easy. it is becoming 1 of the worlds leading markets , a big city as they call it. I think many are lucky having its name in their CVs including the locals who got a chance to participate and work with international companies.

believe me guys , this country is doing v.well indeed. it is going toward being one of the best there is in all aspects, even the industrial countries are allowing them to invest mange and buy its infostrucres, ports airports and it's major banks.

stop worrying about miner things that is diapering from months to months and play your cards right, and you will gain something out of this country. might be little and could be great if you play it right. it is becoming the land of opportunity but it won't come cheap.

smile...

The original article is from a site called "Raise the Hammer", the author of the article (George Patrick) is described in his "bio" as:

"George Patrick is a retired civil servant living in Oakville. He is firmly of the opinion that most people are wrong most of the time, and tends to question his own judgment when too many people agree with him.
glpatrick2@cogeco.ca"

There are a number of inconsistencies in the original article which lead me to believe that the author hasn't even visited Dubai.... e.g. since when has HH Sheikh Mo, been called an emir (although the title is apt, it is very dated in context).

I'd suggest that his research is based on the book that he quotes in the article, "A crime so monstrous" by EB Skinner. The book in question is about the modern day “slave trade”, the book (as I have not read it) seems to deal with the “international trade” and is not specifically written about Dubai or even the UAE; Patrick seems to use this single article (on slavery) as the basis for his own article.

While I can’t deny that there is some basis of truth to the article, it is so biased, hear-say and ungrounded in fact that it’s hardly worth taking seriously.

The following links may be of interest:


http://acrimesomonstrous.com/
http://www.raisethehammer.org/index.asp?id=781
http://www.raisethehammer.org/contributors.asp?auth=101

Corruption in Dubai Reaches Epic Proportions

Written by ericthered on Aug-22-08 12:23pm
From: internationalpropertyinvestment.com

If any one was wondering how Dubai’s property market just kept getting more and more expensive, it would seem baksheesh was the reason.

In yet another blow to confidence in Dubai’s markets, four employees of Dubai-based real estate developer Sama Dubai have been arrested and are being questioned by Dubai’s Public Prosecution on allegations of bribery and mistrust. One of the people being held is Abdulsalam Almarri, chief executive of Sama Dubai’s The Lagoons project.
Sama Dubai.

The Lagoons Project.


Spokespeople for Sama Dubai weren’t available to comment, saying that the company’s executive chairman - Farhan Faraidooni - is sensibly out of the country. Sama Dubai is part of state-owned Dubai Holding, the conglomerate owned by Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.

The arrests at Sama Dubai are part of a widening police dragnet among senior corporate executives in the emirate, in what is a concerted effort by government officials to crack down on corruption.

Dubai Holding’s real estate companies are at the forefront of this boom. Tatweer, which is developing the emirate’s $110 billion Dubailand project, and Dubai Properties, are also part of the same group. The Sama Dubai arrests follow a series of corporate scandals beginning in April.

Earlier this week, Dubai-based Palm developer Nakheel said that an existing employee and a former employee are being questioned on suspicion of bribery.

Dubai government officials stated that Egyptian national Karim Masaad, who Nakheel had previously said had resigned as a sales executive a month ago, is being questioned in connection with alleged wrongdoing while working for the developer. Masaad is the second person held by Dubai authorities in the Nakheel investigation. Walid Al Jaziri, Nakheel’s general manager for sales, is also being questioned.

Earlier this month, Adel Al Shirawi, the former chief executive of Islamic-mortgage lender Tamweel (TAMWEEL.AI) and deputy chairman of Istithmar World, was arrested on suspicion of embezzlement and the recent arrests suggest that Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum wants to clean up the emirate’s reputation to ensure foreign investment continues to flow into the emirate.

In a rare statement, Sheikh Mohammed’s office earlier this week warned that “there will be no tolerance shown to anybody who tries to exploit his position to make illegal profits.”

“Transparency is a problem in the U.A.E. but right now the government is increasing its regulatory role,” said Marius Maratheftis, Standard Chartered Bank’s head economist in Dubai.

Real estate stocks in Dubai have taken a beating following the arrests and the Dubai Financial Market’s Real Estate and Construction index has fallen more than 14% since mid-April. Deyaar has fallen 20% since April 16, while Tamweel’s shares have declined about 11% since Aug. 14.

“There is a short-term negative goodwill impact on Dubai as the (probes) show lack of corporate governance,” said P. Krishna Murthy, chief executive at Al Rostamani Group’s financial services division.

“The financial impact is more worrying but can only be calculated after complete information is available. Markets will be happy with more transparency and if corporate earnings are not hit,” he added.

Sama Dubai is developing eight projects across the Gulf region and North Africa, including the estimated $17.7 million The Lagoons project in Dubai and the Mediterranean Gate project in Morocco. It also has projects in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Tunisia.

Dubai corruption cases timeline:

* April 16
* Deyaar Development CEO Zack Shahin is jailed in Dubai, Zawya Dow Jones reports
* April 17
* Deyaar announces Shahin’s resignation
* Shahin is being held at the Dubai Prosecution’s jail, a Dubai police official says
* Deyaar chairman says Shahin is being investigated for ‘financial mishandling’ and the investigation will have no impact on the profitability of the company
* April 20
* Deyaar says it accepts the resignation of two more boardroom officials amid the ongoing financial investigation
* April 21
* Speaking from jail to Zawya Dow Jones, Shahin says he’s innocent and that others are to blame for alleged wrongdoing at Deyaar
* April 23
* Ganesan Krishna Kumar, the managing director of advertising agency Masterbrand (ME) Ltd, is being detained to answer questions concerning allegations of embezzlement at Deyaar
* April 28
* The investigation into alleged financial wrongdoing at Deyaar widens with confirmation that a third person, Charbel Boutros, has been detained by Dubai police
* April 29
* Shahin will be held by Dubai authorities for at least another two weeks, a Dubai Public Prosecution official says
* Lebanon’s Prime Minister Fouad Siniora is monitoring the status of Zack Shahin, a U.S. passport holder of Lebanese origin, a Lebanese government spokesperson tells Zawya Dow Jones
* Dubai’s assistant chief prosecutor Khaled Zarouni says a fourth person, Jose Mebar, has been taken into custody in the ongoing investigation into financial wrongdoing at Deyaar
* May 1
* Deyaar’s shares are down almost 4% since April 16
* May 20
* Merrill Lynch cuts its rating on Dubai Islamic Bank, which owns 41% of Deyaar, to neutral from buy
* June 9
* British banker Charles Ridley is being held by Dubai Police as part of a bribery investigation involving a former Dubai Islamic Bank vice president
* June 11
* Dubai Islamic Bank confirms that its former vice president Rifat Al Islam Usmani is being investigated as part of a bribery probe
* June 12
* The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates calls for national and international banks operating in the Persian Gulf state to report suspicious bank account movements
* June 15
* Omair Mooraj, managing director and head of Islamic banking at U.S. investment bank JP Morgan Chase & Co., is being detained as part of the fraud investigation at Dubai Islamic Bank
* July 15
* Dubai-based National Properties, a National Bonds Corp. subsidiary, is transferring all assets under its management to Deyaar. The transfer also involves management, a move seen as part of a clean-up act at Deyaar
* July 21
* U.A.E. Minister of State Khalifa Bakheet Al Falasi faces charges in the emirates for breach of trust and fraud in a case filed by a Lebanese woman
* Aug. 14
* Adel Al Shirawi, the former chief executive of Tamweel, and Feras Kalthoum, the mortgage lender’s former head of investments, are being held by police in Dubai as part of a financial probe
* Al Shirawi currently is vice chairman of Dubai government-controlled Istithmar World and also sits on Tamweel’s board of directors. Kalthoum is Istithmar World’s chief financial officer.
* Aug. 15
* Nakheel says one of its employees is being questioned on suspicion of bribe-taking
* Aug. 17
* Deyaar Names Markus Giebel as the new CEO
* Aug. 18
* A statement issued by the office of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum warns “there will be no tolerance shown to anybody who tries to exploit his position to make illegal profits”
* Aug. 19
* Dubai government officials say Egyptian national Karim Masaad, who Nakheel said resigned as a sales executive a month ago, is being questioned in connection with alleged wrongdoing while working for the developer
* The officials say Walid Al Jaziri, Nakheel’s general manager for sales, is also being questioned
* Aug. 21
* Four employees of Dubai-based real estate developer Sama Dubai have been arrested and are being questioned by Dubai’s Public Prosecution on allegations of bribery and mistrust.


http://www.zimbio.com/Dubai+World/artic ... roportions

ok we get it, dubai is bad.. whats new ?

your news are 3 months old, try updating your self

dont say n e thing about dubai fuckers. that shit is blasphemy.

cos dubai represents an original islamic state u get me. these wahabis r like the best muslims in the world ite. so no one say n e thing r u might get deported.

uaekid wrote:ok we get it, dubai is bad.. whats new ?

your news are 3 months old, try updating your self

Dont waste your time, They are always looking to show a bad image about the UAE, and who cares about what they say

Unfortunatel Britisharab has agenda and it involves hating everyone and old cut and paste one sided articles to waste our lives reading...

The only interesting thing about this article, as the information within it has been public knowledge for months, is that the people named in it all seem to be from Lebanon or Egypt...there seems to be no mention of the UAE locals who have been caught up in the case? Last count it was over 200 Emirati's who were called in for questioning and are currently under house arrest.

No mention of Mr Al Boom in here either?

Surely Britisharab has not forgotten to do his research yet again? Doh!



Knight

errtime wrote:dont say n e thing about dubai fuckers. that tasty is blasphemy.

cos dubai represents an original islamic state u get me. these wahabis r like the best muslims in the world ite. so no one say n e thing r u might get deported.

that's exactly a loser would say during an argument. don't you think you yourself, like many others from this part of the word, is making a bad image of dubai as well as many other countries from this part of the world ?!

Chocoholic wrote:

britisharab wrote:

Chocoholic wrote:Well that's all very well and good, but clearly Mr Patrick has not fully done his research sweetheart. Cyclone has been shut down for ages now, child jockeys were banned over a year ago and there are many other gross flaws to his piece.

What's your agenda BA? We all know what's happening here, but no-one is forcing anyone to stay are they.

HahAha, good one, nice to hear it like this....when there's money in the pot, who cares what's cooking.

Wait till the gauntlet falls, it won't be long, sweetheart.

ust being honest. But hey I'm happy here. Afterall I left my home country because of people like you. When you bugger off and leave us alone, then I'll return.

HahaHa Mamoo, keep waiting, you don't have a country anymore, just stay there in DU bai, it's the best you will ever get for running away to the lure of an illusion. It was meant that way and it works like a charm, haHaha....hey Mamoo.

Captain Australia wrote:There are obviously problems here but that article contains lots of errors that make me question its validity.

In a country measuring only forty miles by forty miles and containing only one city

If the author doesn't even know that Dubai is not a country then what else has he got wrong?

britisharab you are the worst kind of poster. You're just spouting other people's words. Why don't you write your own first post, which you can back up with links to other articles if you need to. You might actually have something interesting to say, but these long copy/paste posts make me switch off.

Why is your switch not working, was it purchased in DU bai (Made in China) did they implant it into you or are you carrying it in a jiffy bag, HahahA Mamoo, keep counting the sand beads.

Dubai Knight wrote:Unfortunatel Britisharab has agenda and it involves hating everyone and old cut and paste one sided articles to waste our lives reading...

The only interesting thing about this article, as the information within it has been public knowledge for months, is that the people named in it all seem to be from Lebanon or Egypt...there seems to be no mention of the UAE locals who have been caught up in the case? Last count it was over 200 Emirati's who were called in for questioning and are currently under house arrest.

No mention of Mr Al Boom in here either?

Surely Britisharab has not forgotten to do his research yet again? Doh!



Knight

Hey Knight Rider, why do you look so angry, like you lost your left ass and the right one is on lease, hahaah, Knight Owl.

(1) Fireworks and stars as Dubai hotel throws 20 mln dlr bash

Link to Article

(2) Builder breaches bail conditions, flies to Dubai

Link to Article


(3) Boom turns to gloom as crisis hits Dubai

Link to Article

(4) Two Women Rescued from Captivity in DU bai

Link to Article

hei guys............. the discussion doesn't have to be very hot here .

britisharab certainly has some solid facts. i don't c any defending points for "Fireworks and stars as Dubai hotel throws 20 mln dlr bash" from any angle.

BritishArab,

I really don't get what you're trying to present with all your gloom and doom links, and all that cut and paste stuff.

In other words, what's your point?

OK.. we know good and well that Dubai has its ills and problems. What you're telling us is not new. We know all about it.

We, too, read the newspapers.

Now what? Are you asking to us to leave? Or are you asking us to do something about it? If so, what is it?

It appears to me that you just have a grudge against Dubai and you're venting it off in this forum. You undoubtedly sound bitter and resentful.

P.S. By the way, you sarcastic and demeaning words in your replies to the others are distasteful and surely not helpful.

Cheers!

Tom Jones wrote:BritishArab,

I really don't get what you're trying to present with all your gloom and doom links, and all that cut and paste stuff.

In other words, what's your point?

OK.. we know good and well that Dubai has its ills and problems. What you're telling us is not new. We know all about it.

We, too, read the newspapers.

Now what? Are you asking to us to leave? Or are you asking us to do something about it? If so, what is it?

It appears to me that you just have a grudge against Dubai and you're venting it off in this forum. You undoubtedly sound bitter and resentful.

P.S. By the way, you sarcastic and demeaning words in your replies to the others are distasteful and surely not helpful.

Cheers!

Well that proved exactly your point TJ!



Knight