With its illustrious buildings and infrastructure, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a global tourist destination. In June 2019, the building projects in UAE were estimated at 3 trillion AED. This...Show moreWith its illustrious buildings and infrastructure, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a global tourist destination. In June 2019, the building projects in UAE were estimated at 3 trillion AED. This construction industry sustains itself through the thousands of migrant workers it employs who mostly belong to South-Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, etc. Generally, they are carried to the GCC via the Kafala system. This essay will aim to answer the question, “What are the various ways that are used to contest the condition of the migrant labourers against the state in UAE?” In order to answer the question, this essay will first give a brief overview about the conditions and general situation of the migrant labourers, how the exclusion of labourers is done through the citizenship rules, kafala system and lack of labour laws. The literature review will discuss different theories to try and explain the mechanisms behind immigrant protests in the UAE. Further, the paper will discuss the various ways that have been used to contest the conditions of the migrant labourers against the state including protests and suicides by the labour, international pressure, efforts by activists, non-governmental organisations and students. It will analyse what methods have been successful and which have not been successful in bringing about change. This thesis agrees with the statement that while the UAE has made recent changes to their Labour Law and Kafala System which are indeed a step in the right direction, they need to actually enforce the changes through proper channels and governance while also increasing the penalties significantly in case the law is broken by wealthy sponsors and companies who exploit migrant labourers by charging them exorbitant fees in order to stop the long standing system of exploitation and treatment of migrant labourers as slave labour.Show less
