The other side of Dubai: what bloggers don't talk about (20 photos)

Even a person who is very far from traveling, at least once heard about Dubai - the largest city of the United Arab Emirates, famous all over the world for its luxurious top centers, endless skyscrapers, restaurants and nightclubs.





Dubai is a kind of quintessence of limitless deserts and progressive thinking, and this contrast, it must be said, literally attracts travelers. And they can be understood!



Dubai, indeed, is able to surprise even extremely demanding and seasoned tourist: one Burj Khalifa, 830 meters high, what is it worth! This city is called a miracle and even "Paris Persian Gulf "... but isn't that all too much? Of course not, for wealthy residents of Dubai and visitors to the city, of course, not too much. They associate the emirate with wealth, luxury, boundless comfort, and they won't settle for less.





However, is everything really so fabulous? Personally, I already I have been to Dubai several times, and I have, it must be said, somewhat mixed feelings from this city. On the one hand, very beautiful, expensive and delicious picture, which "peck" everyone who wants to touch beautiful and such a bewitching East. On the other hand, very an impartial underside, which hardly anyone can like. About her and we'll talk.



Dubai was built in the desert solely on oil money, and its construction was carried out, and is being carried out to this day, not at the expense of use of modern technologies, as is customary in most developed countries, and thanks to the use of a huge amount of cheap labor force from the poorest countries in the world.



In addition to oil production, which does not require the use expensive equipment (and why - there are people!), in Dubai only the tourism industry and the banking sector are developing. In the UAE there is no real sector of the economy, and the oil industry, due to close occurrence of oil does not require investments in the development of the latest oil production equipment.



And in connection with such, to put it mildly, frivolous attitude towards case, Dubai can easily turn into a ghost town, as soon as oil reserves will run out because investing in a city that cannot earn, but knows how to spend a lot of money perfectly, hardly anyone wants.



Now let's move from the general to the particular. Not available in Dubai as such, the concept of "debtor". If a person cannot pay off the his debts, since he corny has no money, he immediately becomes an outcast in society. They can take away his apartment (if it available), clothes and even personal belongings, and the "debtor" himself will go for lattice. A similar fate, alas, awaits all those who failed to achieve certain material goods and join the ranks of the wealthy stratum population.



Moreover, according to the laws of Dubai, all responsibility for failures in business does not fall on the shoulders of the owner of this business, but on his employees who actually pay for it. Like, you worked, failed the boss, get punished. Such are the things.



And by the way, about the employees. At stunning in its scale, filigree and speed of development in Dubai, of course, there is also a reverse side. Builders, and these, as a rule, come from the poorest countries world, Africa and Southeast Asia are forced to work without any protective equipment under the scorching sun. But the daytime temperature sometimes it reaches 50 degrees! And this, frankly, inhuman conditions.



By the way, neither tourists nor wealthy citizens of Dubai can be in this heat for more than 5-10 minutes, so even some public transport stops are air-conditioned. And here builders have to work in such hellish heat for 14 hours a day, from which you can infer the level fromdeadness in Dubai - he's there very high. But the leadership of the city is not worried - there is enough in the emirate funds to compensate for losses.



People from Africa and the Middle East, as a rule, get the lowest paid jobs that do not require a professional qualifications. Living conditions can hardly be called comfortable either. More than 150,000 people live in the Sonapur worker ghetto in unbearable conditions. Human.



Many of them sometimes do not even have money for food, and in fact thanks to these people, the piggy bank of Dubai is replenished with new architectural delights. People in the ghetto live like rats in a barrel, and the authorities carefully pretend that no Sonapur exists. And this, in fact, is a vivid illustration of real life in Dubai.



By the way, formally the reins of government in Dubai belong to federal monarchy led by Khalifa ibn Zayd al-Nahyan. And here real power - to Emir Mohammed ibn Rashid al-Maktoum. He is vice president of the emirate, he is also the prime minister, he is also the chief banker and police officer. The influence of this man on all spheres of life in the city is truly unlimited, and any disobedience is punished extremely severely. Therefore, we can say that dictatorship reigns in Dubai.



The police in Dubai are strict and... effective. police officers cut through the city on supercars, such as "Ferrari", and conditionally divide everyone people into two categories: loyal citizens and foreigners, from whom not sure what to expect. The first category of peace officers is completely satisfies while keeping quiet. The second is constantly in extreme dependent position: for any offense, foreigners can either be sent to prison or deportation. Probably because of the severity of punishment in Dubai has almost no crime. You can say goodbye to freedom for almost anything - for example, for criticizing the authorities.



Powerful and wealthy residents of all the UAE, not only of Dubai are frankly afraid of two things - that America will stop protect them from greedy neighbors, and that one day they run out of oil. This is not surprising: the states that literally yesterday they were considered nomads and lived in the middle of the desert, there are no other sources of income. The Emirates do not produce anything, they do not trade at night. They do not know how to earn, and therefore, as soon as the oil runs out, and it one day it will end, for the Emirates it will be a real disaster. And this should never be allowed...



In Dubai, this was understood before others, and therefore actively began invest finances in tourism, so as not to be left with nothing at all. But tourists are attracted by the rich and luxurious Dubai. I wonder who will go here after the Emirates run out of money?!

And, by the way, about one more value of Dubai, in addition to oil, of course. Water is thus an indispensable and necessary resource, o which the inhabitants of the desert know firsthand. And remember how bad it was without her... But what has changed? In modern rich Dubai, water spent for nothing. Probably wealthy citizens believe that water, like and oil, they will always have.



Many outdoor pools that dry up under the scorching sun, endless watering of green golf courses, which, according to by and large, few people need man-made waterfalls and so on, and other. Water literally flows away into nowhere, and it is quite obvious that this the story is very similar to the story of oil.



There is a saying: if Dubai is a living being, it there would be a monster with a thousand plastic surgeries and a heart made of metal. well and how else, if this emirate is completely artificial, built in desert, among the endless sands. Too big, too grand too... Everything is too much... In this city, everything is artificial, and even smiles on people's faces. But this is the same chic - the brilliance that everyone and sought and behind which tourists from all over the world. Is not it so?



In fact, brilliant Dubai has a very disgusting wrong side andwhich in itself is appalling, a fully legitimized tyranny. Hunger, a miserable existence and the most difficult working conditions - just like that the reverse side of Dubai, and of all other emirates, functions. Migrants come here in search of a better life and additional earnings, but they are deprived of their freedom, health and any opportunities for self-realization. Only work for the benefit of the owners.