Dubai- A diaspora in dire straits??

Some statistics based on a survey from a Gulf news article on the subject and you really start wondering where the Expatriates especially in this part of the world would go from here?

http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Business_Feature/10043395.html

20-30 % increase in cost of essential commodities, rent, transport, education etc.

Less said about rent the better. Minimum is 15 % and goes upwards by even 100% in many areas. Getting a decent 1-2 bed room flat in areas like Burdubai, Karama,Quasis, etc are almost impossible and is a nightmare most of the time

Pay growth of just 7 % in last year with almost 39 % of the sample having no increase and worse 3% having a reduction compared to last year

44% of those interviewed deciding to share accommodation with other families or sending their loved ones back home out of sheer frustration

Only 9 % savings on total income as compared to almost 30-4o % few years ago and worse still 41% no savings whatsoever

Depreciating Dollar and the resultant impact on the business and profits

This is just the tip of the iceberg and we also have the low income workers mostly from construction group who slog it out for 10-12 hours a day in temperatures of 45 degrees+ and leave in crowded accommodations with poor hygienic conditions with a meagre salary of around 250 USD per month on an average. Some of those also leave in 5*5 bed spaces or worse even sleep in cars in the night paying around 50 USD per month only to use wash facilities

Dubai may be well on target to become the city of sky scrappers and dazzling man made islands carved out of the sea which are no doubt world class wonders in its quest to become another Shanghai, London or Newyork. But where does the common expatriate go after living for years in this country and contributing as best as he can to the economy and in the process also uplifting his own standards of living and savings back home. There is also another argument that nobody forced these people to come out of their home country and they should accept to live with the reality or simply pack up the bags and go home. Easier said than done!

Truly a case of Diaspora in dire straits which was predicted even 7-8 years ago by one of my Mentors in an article in Business world in 1997-98 for Gulf Expats as a whole.

RK