Faceless Pakistani worker

Dubai’s glittering skyline, with its record-breaking skyscrapers and lavish resorts, was not built by the billionaires who frequent it. Instead, it stands as a monument to the relentless labor of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers, mostly from South Asia—India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. These workers arrive with hopes of earning a decent wage to support their families back home, only to find themselves trapped in a brutal system of exploitation. Many of them are employed in construction, enduring long hours in extreme heat, often for salaries as low as $120–$250 per month.

The Kafala system, a sponsorship-based employment scheme prevalent in the Gulf, ties workers to their employers, making it nearly impossible for them to leave or change jobs without permission. Many arrive in Dubai after paying exorbitant recruitment fees, only to have their passports confiscated upon arrival, effectively trapping them in debt bondage. Living conditions are often dire—tiny, overcrowded labor camps on the outskirts of the city, with poor sanitation and little access to basic necessities. Some workers describe being packed into rooms with ten or more men, surviving on meager rations after employers deduct wages for food and “accommodation.”

Desi guest worker

Pakistani guest worker

Despite Dubai’s gleaming image of modernity, labor laws rarely favor the workers who built the city. Strikes are illegal, and complaints of unpaid wages are often met with deportation rather than justice. Heat exhaustion, workplace accidents, and even suicides are common, yet authorities seldom hold employers accountable. When the pandemic hit, many of these workers were abandoned, left jobless and stranded with no money to return home. The city that boasts some of the world’s most expensive hotels and luxury shopping districts is, in reality, built on the backs of exploited men who will never be allowed to set foot inside the places they helped construct.