Page 111 - Aamir Rehman - Dubai & Co Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States-McGraw-Hill (2007)

Here to Stay: GCC Market Attractiveness and Risks 95

home but was not paid for months. After living off the gifts of
neighbors and well-wishers he finally made a complaint to a third
party, embarrassing his employer. As a result, he was promptly
shipped home. Other tales are told of overburdened workers who
die from heat-related conditions and whose bodies are sent back
with token payments to the relatives of the deceased.
While labor laws in the UAE and other GCC states are written
to protect basic rights, the enforcement of these laws has historically
been uneven. Although recent laws have allowed workers to form
associations, most laborers feel powerless and unable to voice their
concerns for fear of losing their jobs. Besides the basic ethical
concerns raised by the mistreatment of workers, such cases of
gross injustice are bad for business and for society in general,
as they breed more deprivation, leading to resentment and
then hostility between social classes—all of which threaten
stability.

“ . . . Yearning to Breathe Free”

Political rights—especially for expatriates—are extremely limited in
the GCC states. Even as steps toward democratization are taken
(e.g., elections for local councils and national assemblies) in various
GCC countries, there are few political parties, and open discourse is
very limited. Rarely in the GCC countries will you hear residents
openly criticize their rulers. Satellite channels such as Al Jazeera
provide a more balanced and critical view of government policy than
ever before, but public expressions of discontent are few and
far between.
Expatriates are, of course, excluded from voting because of
their foreign nationality. Unlike the United States or many EU
nations, however, there is hardly any path to citizenship: nonna-
tional residents remain foreigners forever. The bargain with foreign
workers is therefore clear: they are in a GCC country to work and to
earn, but never will this be their country. This alienation from the
political process is a real drawback for some expatriates—especially
those from countries in which political participation is more wide-
spread. Multinationals, when sending staff to the GCC, are well
advised to ensure that their employees understand these dynamics
and are willing to live with them.