In The Shadow Of Dubai's Skyscrapers
![The Arab Emirate of Dubai is famous for its wealth, tourism, and booming growth. Here, the base of the recently completed Burj Khalifa -- the world's tallest building -- is seen behind a luxury resort, surrounded by construction sites. Photos by Abbas Atilay of RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service](https://gdb.rferl.org/12ffe58a-0536-4daa-b6bc-7147bec6f913_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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The Arab Emirate of Dubai is famous for its wealth, tourism, and booming growth. Here, the base of the recently completed Burj Khalifa -- the world's tallest building -- is seen behind a luxury resort, surrounded by construction sites.
Photos by Abbas Atilay of RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service
Photos by Abbas Atilay of RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service
![But the construction boom rests on the labor of people who are invisible to the wider public: low-paid migrant workers living in dire conditions.](https://gdb.rferl.org/23e763a5-4b22-4d8c-b0c8-7f94419dabc5_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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But the construction boom rests on the labor of people who are invisible to the wider public: low-paid migrant workers living in dire conditions.
![In the neighborhood of Deira, some 20 Pakistani workers share a 22-square-meter room, for which they each pay $55 a month.](https://gdb.rferl.org/b43cc5a8-4522-48d2-80e1-aa114a26f55a_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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In the neighborhood of Deira, some 20 Pakistani workers share a 22-square-meter room, for which they each pay $55 a month.
![Other workers have been squeezed out of their rooms by overcrowding and sleep on the roofs of their buildings.](https://gdb.rferl.org/019b4ba6-1ff7-4510-baa4-548d925d6d4b_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Other workers have been squeezed out of their rooms by overcrowding and sleep on the roofs of their buildings.
![A man folds a blanket after a night on the roof.](https://gdb.rferl.org/dee3a386-1300-4cd2-a0ba-2278cdcaaca6_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A man folds a blanket after a night on the roof.
![Workers rest after a hard day. Thousands of immigrants, mainly from Pakistan and Bangladesh, live in the Deira district.](https://gdb.rferl.org/37d32036-6ed3-4e62-a2ab-28168651c8cd_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Workers rest after a hard day. Thousands of immigrants, mainly from Pakistan and Bangladesh, live in the Deira district.
![Rajao, an immigrant from Bangladesh, works on the construction of a new skyscraper. He has no permanent residence and sleeps at the building site.](https://gdb.rferl.org/451271e6-563e-4051-8632-3ab666487398_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Rajao, an immigrant from Bangladesh, works on the construction of a new skyscraper. He has no permanent residence and sleeps at the building site.
![Men carry heavy equipment on a Dubai street.](https://gdb.rferl.org/db03632f-fc45-4695-bf4d-2d5654450973_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Men carry heavy equipment on a Dubai street.
![The average salary for migrant workers is between $300 and $500 a month -- barely enough to make ends meet.](https://gdb.rferl.org/66b01c95-9880-4f7a-ba04-bd3578e3a40a_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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The average salary for migrant workers is between $300 and $500 a month -- barely enough to make ends meet.
![](https://gdb.rferl.org/9f4bd578-f720-444c-8429-eb73f04c062e_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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![A worker holds prayer beads near a mosque.](https://gdb.rferl.org/ea8b00a2-93e1-458e-a430-a1e9385bb83a_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A worker holds prayer beads near a mosque.
![Others make due with their cramped quarters when it's time for prayer.](https://gdb.rferl.org/bbef9921-8895-4157-b608-390829c0f5bf_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Others make due with their cramped quarters when it's time for prayer.
![Migrant workers share an evening meal in their temporary home.](https://gdb.rferl.org/6a7e5e37-a268-4946-8302-0c20337e079d_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Migrant workers share an evening meal in their temporary home.