Abu Dhabi Louvre and Guggenheim
Outposts Still Have Human Rights Problems
According
to the Human Rights Watch, the United Arab Emirates, reforms haven’t done
enough to end the exploitation of migrant workers building a high-profile
project including branches of the Louvre and the Guggenheim museums. In the 82
page report, Human Rights watch stated that they believe that Emirati
authorities have taken “positive steps,” but workers still face abuses
including working without pay and benefits, confiscated passports, and poor
housing accommodations. Consequentially, if workers go on strike, they face
deportation.
This
report is the newest edition from international rights groups to bring the Gulf
Arab region into the spotlight. These Gulf region countries are very wealthy,
and they rely on an estimated 5 million low paid, temporary migrant workers to
do the “blue-collar” work of the region. The Tourism Development and Investment
Company, which is backed by the Emirates government, is rejecting the report
from the Human Rights Watch, calling the “outdated and based on unknown
methodologies.”
The
“Employment Practices Policy” previously set out standards for companies
involved in its projects and has built a facility that is supposed to house
employees for all of its contractors and subcontractors. Spokespeople from the
Louvre, Guggenheim, and a remote NYU site claim that rights are top priority.
However, the 113 interviewed current and former laborers who worked on the
project between 2013-2014 all disagree. They state that employers “held their
passports and did not reimburse them for recruiting fees they paid.”
This article really gave me a slap in the face as far as
human rights is concerned. I have heard of the poor working conditions in UAE,
and I truly thought that there were vast improvements being made. According to
this article, the conditions are improving, but not as quickly as they should
be. I can only imagine what the migrant workers are going through, basically
working as slaves to the Emirati officials, living in terrible conditions, and
working without pay or ability to leave. They can’t even go on strike to defend
their rights as humans. If they do, they
face deportation. They are basically
caught in a paradox. They are talked into moving to this beautiful, wealthy
country, and offered a salary that cannot be competed against in their home
country, so they sign up. Once they get to UAE, the conditions are poor and they
are not paid for their work, as they were promised. Their passports are
confiscated and they cannot leave of their own free will. They are stuck in a
bad situation, and it is necessary for a bigger power to step in. The Human
Rights Watch is helping the migrant workers gain their rights, slowly but
surely.
Andrika Payne
2/12/15
1513
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