By Simeon Kerr
Published: November 5 2009 02:00 | Last updated: November 5 2009 02:00
Salim*, a 28-year-old Bangladeshi worker in Dubai, lives on the cusp of disaster. One false move and the four-year veteran of the city will be arrested, detained and, if he’s lucky, deported home to his family. The father of two lost his passport when the construction company for which he was working went bust. All attempts to retrieve the documents failed.
Salim was then taken on illegally by a chemicals company. But as the recession started to bite late last year, the business struggled and farmed him out to building sites for casual work. When he refused these jobs because of the risk of being discovered by government labour inspectors, the foreman docked his wages. “We don’t go out much at night, in case we get caught by the police,” he says.
Salim lives with 80 other Indians, Nepalese and Bengalis in the down-at-heel Satwa neighbourhood, wedged in between the leafy villas of upmarket Jumeirah and the towers of Sheikh Zayed Road. He shares his room with a dozen other illegal workers, who hang their worldly possessions in plastic bags that adorn the walls like Christmas decorations. The bedrooms and cooking areas are overrun with cockroaches.
Stranded without a regular job and with no legal identification documents, Salim and his housemates are some of the tens of thousands of illegal workers that make up the United Arab Emirates’ grey economy.
These workers have carved out a significant niche as they undercut labourers in the formal economy, who come with extra costs, such as visas and basic