I stumbled upon this horrific set of images of Dubai's labor camps. It seems that behind those monumental Dubai skyscrapers, mammoth shopping centers and fake islands is just a hidden army of mostly illegal and exploited immigrant workers who work long days and nights for almost nothing.

Anyways... Funkdakarma, one of Filter27's longtime forum members who currently lives in Dubai, offers some insight on this topic:

Mate you don't want to get me started on this....I'm a believer in karma though....this arrogant attitude that the Arabs have towards subcontinentals will be severely punished one day, and the time is nigh...the problem is the governments of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal are equally to blame for not protecting their citizens....can you imagine Americans getting mistreated in any part of the world and then being ignored by their embassies?

The sick thing is that because the labour class is all subcontinental, all people from the region are then stereotyped this way....I can't tell you how many asides and comments I've heard from people, the weird looks directed at darker-skinned people (like me)...it's like a throwback to colonial times...Are we really fooling ourselves that we are getting closer to equality? It's the same bullshit, the strong exploit the weak and only get stronger, fatter and richer....it's like this place is a microcosm of all the world's problems....and the media here are excellent at creating a shiny, happy image of Dubai while deftly brushing the dirt under the carpet....well, one day that carpet will be removed and the truth will be known...

[Photo by sungimann, via Flickr]