Slaves of Arab oil dynasties

"The exploitation of migrant workers in the Gulf states has been worrying human rights groups for some time but now the recession is making their predicament even worse. Usually employed in a semi-formal manner with large companies, Asian workers in United Arab Emirates fall within a vacuum of employment law and social welfare and hence become the first casualties of a recession. Usually indebted to their agents or "sponsors", ie those who have purchased visas on their behalf, and bereft of passports or identification documents confiscated by their employers, they now inhabit a "grey economy". Dubai, with its recent construction boom, has been the focal point for media coverage of abused migrant workers. The problem occurs worldwide but it is undoubtedly more highly concentrated in the Gulf. Because of snobbish attitudes regarding the types of work that locals will take on, an entire underclass of migrant workers has been imported to clean, drive, chauffeur, build and serve."