Dubai: a city of dreams

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Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum dreamed of transforming what was once a sleepy fishing and pearl diving village into the ultimate 21st century metropolis. In just ten years, he...

Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum dreamed of transforming what was once a sleepy fishing and pearl diving village into the ultimate 21st century metropolis. In just ten years, he has delivered the tallest building in the world, the most expensive hotel, the biggest man-made island, the biggest shopping mall, the biggest airport, and the longest fully automated metro system. And that's just for starters. To make his dream come true, Sheikh Mohammed has imported to Dubai over a million slave laborers. He charges them $2,000-5,000 for the visa and work permit and pays them less than a dollar an hour. He confiscates their passports and houses them in slum-like gated labor camps. They work 12 hours a day, six days a week, in often over one hundred degree temperatures. Sheikh Mohammad keeps them hidden from the public eye and censors information on them. Spekaing up on the labor issues in Dubai is punishable by a fine and imprisonment up to two years. The laborers make up more than 60% of the Dubai population. They are the silent, invisible majority that lives in the dark underbelly of the city. This documentary gives them a voice. It tells their heart-wrenching story--From container.

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