Life in DUBAI! The DARKSIDE they don't want you to know

An Iranian photographer has captured the desperate lives of South Asian labourers who travel to Dubai in the hope of building a future for their families - but find only squalor, low wages and backbreaking work in stifling heat.



The pictures were taken in Sonapur, the unofficial name for a work camp on the outskirts of Dubai, located far away from the luxury, soaring skyscrapers and vast wealth that the United Arab Emirates city is renowned for.


 'Sonapur' - ironically, the name means 'City of Gold' in Hindi - is home to more than 150,000 workers, mostly from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China. Thirty years ago, almost all of Dubai was a desert but it has grown rapidly become one of the main commercial hubs and tourist destinations in the region.


The photographer has visited Dubai many times and has watched it grow in size and wealth. The 33-year-old says there is an unspoken understanding that there are three different classes of people in Dubai - the Emiratis, the expats and, at the bottom, the labourers who built the city.


He explains that several workers have their passports seized at the airport and are forced to work extremely long hours in blistering heat for very little pay. They are taken to Sonapur - which is not on the map - so they can be better controlled by employers.


He spoke to one labourer called Jahangir from Bangladesh. The 27-year-old has worked as a cleaner for the past four years and earns 800 AED (£139) a month and sends 500 AED (£87) to his family. He is forced to survive on what little remains.

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