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Bonobo

(29,257 posts)
Wed Dec 11, 2013, 05:56 AM Dec 2013

3 million male slaves in Dubai



This thread got scant attention in GD, so I bring it here with an additional focus on the male aspect to the story.

We have all heard about the sex trade, and we can all agree how horrible it is.

Why does this get less attention? 3 million men, trying to earn money for their families, sacrifice everything they have and work 12 hour days, 6 days a week living in squalid conditions unsuitable for an animal.

THIS is what it means to be a man on the fringes. And it has always been this way for all of recorded history. It is indeed the flip side of the sex slave coin. If women have always been sold for their usefulness as sex objects, it is equally true that men have always been sold for their usefulness as beasts of burden.
12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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3 million male slaves in Dubai (Original Post) Bonobo Dec 2013 OP
Hideous. Smarmie Doofus Dec 2013 #1
March 2013 I believe. nt Bonobo Dec 2013 #2
IMO: It is inhumane for any person to be a bonded laborer. In_The_Wind Dec 2013 #3
Whoa! I had no idea that this was going on. HappyMe Dec 2013 #4
Start an OP on sex slaves and see the attention it gets. Bonobo Dec 2013 #5
Cuz menz are bad, mmkay. HappyMe Dec 2013 #6
Fuck UAE. lumberjack_jeff Dec 2013 #7
Here is another fairly recent account of similar in Qatar. MadrasT Dec 2013 #8
Makes my heart hurt too - HappyMe Dec 2013 #9
Saudia Arabia has a similar situation Major Nikon Dec 2013 #10
That's an abomination! Behind the Aegis Dec 2013 #11
"It is equally true that men have always been sold for their usefulness as beasts of burden." nomorenomore08 Dec 2013 #12

HappyMe

(20,277 posts)
4. Whoa! I had no idea that this was going on.
Wed Dec 11, 2013, 09:36 AM
Dec 2013

I assumed that all those fancy buildings there were built by well paid construction guys.

This is inhumane. I can't believe only that one man responded to all those letters.

HappyMe

(20,277 posts)
6. Cuz menz are bad, mmkay.
Wed Dec 11, 2013, 10:23 AM
Dec 2013


Back when I lived in Chicago, the woman that was the manager of the apartment building had a brother that worked in the coal mines. The guy was literally broken. One of his legs was permanently bent at the knee, his hands looked crunched up and he had black lung disease. They did get paid in company money, live in company housing. You could never, ever get ahead or even break even. He started work there when he was a kid. By the time it got to the point where he couldn't work a day more, conditions were improving. He looked at least 10 years older than his actual age.

MadrasT

(7,237 posts)
8. Here is another fairly recent account of similar in Qatar.
Wed Dec 11, 2013, 12:12 PM
Dec 2013
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-27/qatar-world-cup-organisers-accused-of-treating-workers-as-slaves/4984072

Migrant workers dying after being treated as 'modern slaves' by Qatar World Cup organisers, report claims

Authorities in Qatar are investigating allegations that dozens of migrant construction workers have died in recent weeks after being treated as "modern slaves" as the country prepares to host the 2022 World Cup.

A report in Britain's Guardian newspaper says thousands of Nepalese workers are toiling away in conditions that amount to modern-day slavery.

It says some have not been paid for months, while others have been denied access to drinking water on construction sites.

Journalist Pete Pattison says many of the young men are dying from heart failure.
.
.
.
"Many of these men are dying from some form of heart failure. Many people think it's because of the extreme conditions they work under. I spent 11 days at the arrivals gate at Kathmandu airport and I saw coffin after coffin coming back from the Gulf countries. They were coffins of dead migrant workers."


This makes my heart hurt.

HappyMe

(20,277 posts)
9. Makes my heart hurt too -
Wed Dec 11, 2013, 01:44 PM
Dec 2013

for those poor workers and the fact that I feel helpless/powerless to help them.

Behind the Aegis

(54,854 posts)
11. That's an abomination!
Wed Dec 11, 2013, 02:25 PM
Dec 2013

There are similar things happening in parts of Africa and South America (mainly Brazil), but I don't know that it is at this level. My understanding is India is among one of the worst offenders.

nomorenomore08

(13,324 posts)
12. "It is equally true that men have always been sold for their usefulness as beasts of burden."
Fri Dec 13, 2013, 07:54 PM
Dec 2013

Absolutely. Great post.

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