United Arab Emirates is one of the places where individuals from Asian nations migrate. According to a recent research by Global Media Insights, a sizable percentage of the expatriate community in the United Arab Emirates is from South and Southeast Asia. The largest group is Indians, who make up over 4.36 million people, or 38.45% of the total population. About 1.90 million (16.72%) are from Pakistan, while over 0.84 million (7.38%) are from Bangladesh. With 0.78 million people, or 6.89% of the population, the Filipino community also makes up a sizeable portion. The UAE’s workforce is heavily influenced by these populations, especially in the fields of construction, services, healthcare, and domestic work.
Though, there are a lot of Asians in the UAE, a social media post raises concerns on the work culture and violence endured by some of the blue collar workers. The post, shared by an eyewitness, recounts a violent altercation that took place near a newly completed building, opposite Mayfair Residence and just a few meters from the traffic lights at the bridge.
“I was walking to work, just five minutes away,” the post begins. “I stood at the traffic light waiting to cross, when I heard someone shouting and crying.”
According to the eyewitness, the worker was being physically attacked by another man, described as of Arabic descent. The attacker allegedly grabbed the victim by the neck and pushed him to the ground while the man screamed in pain. “This guy was so aggressive. The poor guy had no strength to fight back,” the post continues. “I felt so bad.”
The victim eventually escaped and ran toward a distant African security guard, who was able to intervene. The outcome of the situation after that moment remains unknown. He ended the post saying, “Why I’m posting this is to spread awareness. No one is a superhuman. You don’t have the right to inflict pain on someone else. The workplace is for work, not for war. Please do not be violent.”
“If you fight back, you’ll experience retaliation”
Netizens expressed their opinion on the post. A user said, “If you fight back, you’ll experience retaliation. If you don’t fight back, you’ll get abused now and future also. The gradient of power is so messed up.” “The weak are always suppressed,” added another. “You don’t need to fight, Take a video and call the police, they won’t let this slide,” noted a netizen. “This is the reason I left UAE for USA. All expats, immigrants can say lots of good things about UAE and I agree it’s a nice place..but natives will always be superior to you no matter what. They know that and will act like it,” added a user. “
This happens a lot in UAE. And I guess that’s the side that nobody talks about. And most people at the receiving end have no other choice but to endure it coz they probably have a family to feed back in their hometown and the “elites” here take advantage of it,” claimed another.