If you asked most people you met on the street whether slavery was dead, the general consensus would be yes. Officially I do not know of a single country that allows the trade of humans and I believe that the UN human rights charter has categorically banned this wicked trade. Yet I am not sure whether this would be a correct notion since I see it happening everyday.

There are many kinds of slavery—obvious and hidden. The obvious kind of slavery is that of buying and selling people’s work without the person who actually worked getting any compensation for his/her toil. In this article, I will concentrate only on the obvious type of slavery because while most people would like to think that this issue is a dead issue, I would beg to differ that this thought is dead.

As with many new up and coming cities that are sprouting new mega developments, the demand for labor who can construct is great. In fact, I doubt you can visit any part of the region without being astonished by the buildings that are surfacing like works of art all over. As I said, this type of growth needs people to make it happen. The problem with this situation is not the development or the lack of the government rules and regulations. The reason why I believe that slavery exists here is because of what I see in the construction sector. Please allow me to qualify what I just wrote. There are many professional construction companies who care about their employees and their reputation. These are the good guys of the industry. These companies learned a long time ago that keeping a good reputation, not cutting corners and giving a damn about the safety and health of their living asset is more important than that quick Dirham that they would make in the short run. All you have to do is look at the companies that have lasted to know those that care and those that don’t.

However you must be asking yourself what has this got to do with slavery? For you to properly understand where I am coming from all I will ask of you is to pass by two places and keep an eye on a third and you will see the connection.

The first place to look at is the job site itself. See at what time and in what conditions are these workers are working in. The idea that the summer heat might bring some relief to these poor workers is not even considered by the owners of these construction companies. Oh! And before you say that they are used to these conditions, try to walk, not work, for 15 minutes in the summer sun at noon and then say that they are used to this. For these decadent companies, every second counts because when they signed the contract to build, they did it in comfortable offices and thought just of the money that they would make by promising the stars and the sun to the landlord while discounting the laborers’ needs. Thus they signed off to do the job in the quickest time possible with penalties from the landlord for delays. They did not care that this might be an impossible target to aim for since they knew that they could “whip” their laborers to get the job done no matter what. Thus time to work included holidays and unusual times. They knew that they could get away with this because even though the Municipality has strict rules on such immoral acts, they do not have enough people to keep up with the people who break the law as the city grows. This is why, as far as I am concerned, the government is the scapegoat here. How much policing can the government do when there are more than enough scoundrels willing to break the rule in such a blossoming city?

The second place to see is the “labor camps”. The phrase used to describe the place of living for these laborers is enough to send chills down the spine. To see how they are treated and how they live is enough to make you cry. Once again, these companies know that there are too many of them to check on so they break the laws and really don’t care.

The last place to keep an eye open for is the road. Please pay attention to the busses, or should I call them cattle movers, that these companies use. This is one area that I can only praise the government for properly cracking down on in the past when the issue was small. The government forced the construction companies to employ proper busses with seats and A/Cs. Yet even now and again you will find some contracting companies that don’t comply with the laws.

And now the final straw that proves my point is the fact that some companies do not pay their laborers their salaries for months, if they pay indeed, no matter how well off the owners might be. They, the “slaves”, did the job yet their wage of Dhs 700 (the average rate of the industry) is denied to them even though the company has amassed a great fortune off their sweat and toil. Now you tell me that this is NOT slavery?

In the UAE, HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum made it quite clear that any company that doesn’t pay its employees their deserved wages will not be allowed to work. This is a great step in the right direction. I just hope that these companies who think that they can get away with their deception will now think twice. But why should it reach this point?

As a child, I was taught that an ungodly man showed mercy on a thirsty dog by giving it water and saved its life and as a reward he entered paradise. Yet from what I have seen around me, these companies that treat their employees like this have no concept of kindness or humanity. God only knows what kind of reward they will get!