No Emma Lazarus on the Persian Gulf, but Huddled Masses and Labor Camps abound……..
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Emma Lazarus
“ABU DHABIi // As more than 100,000 workers transfer from a camp near Mohammed bin Zayed City to new accommodation, construction companies complained yesterday that the move will cost them time and money. Abu Dhabi Municipality has told contractors to shift their workers to specially built labour cities by September 17. But the companies say the new developments, although providing more amenities, can cost them an additional Dh600 per person per month. Bassim Abu Zain, the general manager of the construction contractor Detco, said his company could not renew its trade licence unless it proved that its labourers were in a new camp near Al Mafraq, 45 minutes from the city. “They gave us this limit of three months to solve our problems and go to this place in Al Mafraq,” he said. “They will not accept your work if you don’t bring any documents saying your labourers are living in this camp.” Yesterday, the municipality said it had built infrastructure and roads for the new camps. “They’re better, everything is available there,” a spokesman said………..”
Clearly, the Emma Lazarus of Abu Dhabi, or anywhere else on the Persian Gulf, has yet to materialize. I suspect she never will. But no worry, there are plenty of huddled masses in the carefully isolated labor camps.
Cheers
mhg
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