Social Aspects

One very essential fact to be always considered and kept in mind is that here in Dubai and the rest of the gulf region, we are dealing with a specific reality which is different in many ways from other socio economic realities. We are dealing with a country and a whole region which was built from scratch with local Oil surplus as an invested development capital and foreign ‘know- how’ and foreign work force. The ratio of the local population is 15% against 85% of expatriate population. The ratio of Far Eastern working force (Indians, Pakistanis, Philippinos) is 80% of the total expatriate population. All other Nationalities (Europeans, other Arab nationalities, Americans, Africans etc…) form the remaining 20% of the expatriate population. It is obvious from the above that we are dealing with a heterogeneous society ‘par excellence’ with no hope of the various components being ever integrated to form a homogeneous society because of the lack of the basic requirement of persistent interactive sedentary living for the larger majority of the working force.

There are two categories of expatriate population:

• Contract workers whose contract is limited to 2-3 years and their stay in the country is subject to finding another work contract which will allow them an extended stay for another period of 2-3 years and this category constitutes by far the largest segment of the working force i.e. construction workers, services workers, and other office workers.
• Entrepreneurs or investors who live and work in this country but have no legal guarantee to continuous residence except the continuity of their Business. Nobody is given a stay permit of more than 3 years which is of course renewable as long as the business is there.