2 minute read
Labour Camps
Although this geographical separation is more evident than social segregation, in interviews conducted by Bristol-Rhys (2012,77), it was found that most migrant workers perceive physical separation as a method of institutionalizing social exclusion. There are unspoken barriers to where these workers can and cannot go. For example, when Bristol-Rhys asked a worker to walk down to Corniche park, he responded, “no, no, that is too far, and it is also too difficult! The police watch you very closely down there; they do not want all of the men from the camps crowding the area” (Bristol-Rhys 2012, 77). These migrant workers do not understand the concept of public and feel uncomfortable going to these parks and other public spaces. They believe, “we are not people of the city; we live in the labor camp and are not public” (Bristol-Rhys 2012, 77).
2.4 Labour Camps
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In stark contrast to the posh monoliths of human engineering and luxury in the UAE, the living condition of the migrant workers who built those sky-soaring structures in the first place is a bleak story of ignorance at its best and labor abuse at its worst. The main problems and issues these workers face while living in the labor camps are explained in the following section.
Density
Workers are forced, either economically or otherwise, to live in labor camps that are characteristically unsanitary, compact, and substandard. For instance, in Free Trade Zone and Al Sajaa, Sharjah’s two largest labor camps, the typical dwelling is a small room of 10 square meters, which sleeps as many as eight workers (Figure 2.5) (Moussalem and Abdelsalam 2018). This amounts to a meager 1.25 square meters per person. A series of formal and informal labor camps have been identified in Figure 2.5. The matrix analyzes and compares the current labor camp densities and programs to the Sharjah legislation laws and proposes a new and more reasonable density for the project.
Thermal Shock
Besides these unsanitary living conditions, migrant workers are also more prone to potential health problems, such as thermal shock. Due to high levels
Figure 2.3 Location of labor camps in the UAE (Source: Hamza 2015)
Figure 2.4 Snippets from the day of construction workers in Sharjah (Source: Google)
Figure 2.5 Existing and proposed labor accomodation densities in Sharjah (Source: author; Moussalem and Abdelsalam 2018)
