The city of Dubai in the oil-rich Gulf kingdom of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) styles itself as an international hub for tourism, business, and culture. At the heart of this image is Expo 2020 Dubai, one of the largest megaprojects in the region and the first world expo held in the Middle East. Expo 2020 Dubai, delayed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, features 192 national pavilions. It is expected to attract 25 million visitors during the its six months of operation between October 1st, 2021 and March 31st, 2022, and potentially millions more after the Expo ends and the site is converted into District 2020 to attract business, high-tech innovation, and a residential population to the area.[0.4] Expo 2020 Dubai could not have taken place without migrant workers who make up more than 90% of private sector employees in the UAE.[0.5] These women and men were integral to building the infrastructure for the event, with more than 40,000 workers employed in the construction process alone.[0.6] Similarly, the delivery of the Expo requires thousands of additional migrant workers to perform a range of services, including in facilities management, security, hospitality and cleaning.

– BABIK, [0.3] AN INDIAN NATIONAL WORKING FOR A CAFÉ AT EXPO 2020 DUBAI

“It’s very tiring. I work from early in the morning till evening …
They promised me an increment in salary after probation – something I have not seen to date … Never have I received overtime payments from my employer … The way they treat the staff is like slaves, I mean modern day slavery.”[0.2]

Equidem research between September and December 2021 reveals that migrant workers engaged on projects at Expo 2020 Dubai across a range of sectors – from hospitality and retail to construction and security – are being subjected to forced labour practices. These practices violate UAE law yet, as far as Equidem is aware, none have been investigated by the authorities, nor has any individual or business been brought to account. Workers also spoke of being subjected to racial discrimination and bullying, and a reluctance to make formal complaints about their treatment out of fear of reprisals from employers or the authorities. This is despite Expo organisers establishing labour complaint grievance mechanisms as part of wide-ranging worker welfare standards that are meant to apply to all individuals working at the event and which establish a higher threshold of protection than under the UAE’s labour laws.

Key findings

Main report findings
Majority of Expo 2020 Dubai workers interviewed faced forced labour practices
Workers subjected to racial discrimination and bullying
Workers charged illegal recruitment fees
Non-payment of wages and benefits
Retention of passports
Workers not accessing grievance mechanisms

Forced labour at Expo 2020 Dubai
The great majority of migrant workers interviewed for this research reported that they had experienced violations of their labour rights which are also indicative of forced labour:
	25 interviewees (83%) paid illegal recruitment fees and/or did not receive wages or other benefits on time and in full
	11 interviewees (37%) reported three or more issues at work which are indicators of forced labour
	5 interviewees (20%) reported five or more issues at work which are indicators of forced labour
UAE law prohibits forced labour or any other practice that may amount to trafficking of persons under national law and international conventions. Yet the UAE rarely prosecutes forced labour and human trafficking cases, if ever.

Security guards working for different private firms on Expo 2020 Dubai described treatment that is indicative of forced labour. © Equidem 2022

Women and men working in hospitality at Expo 2020 Dubai, said they were charged illegal recruitment fees, faced delays in receiving wages, and had passports confiscated, practices that are indicators of forced labour. Some also complained of being subjected to racial discrimination. © Equidem 2022

“My expectation was high when I came to Dubai, I thought these people will accept me for who I am, but as a migrant and being an African, I have gone through many bad experiences. I have been bullied based on my race. I have experienced that employees are not treated by the management equally. I am a first-class degree holder in my country and I have good work experience, (but) the guy who had less qualification and experience than me got a good position.” [0.7]

– FADHILI, A GHANAIAN SECURITY GUARD AT EXPO 2020 DUBAI

Racial discrimination and bullying

More than a third (37%) of workers stated that there was discrimination and/or bullying in the workplace and several gave examples of their direct experience of this. UAE law prohibits discrimination and hatred on the basis of caste, race, religion or ethnic origin.[0.8] Raz, a security guard at Expo 2020 Dubai, told Equidem, “Even when we are doing the same work, all those except the nationals are considered second category staff. We are getting less salary for the same work and the other work related benefits are also less. I experienced being bullied… by senior staff.” [0.9]

“Yes, they discriminate a lot when it comes to dividing work, the Asians are given heavy work and less pay while the Europeans and Arabs are given lighter roles with lots of income… The Asians were the first to lose their jobs which they work so hard for…”[0.10]

– IRFAN,A PAKISTANI CONSTRUCTION WORKER AT EXPO 2020 DUBAI

“There is a lot of discrimination amongst the nationalities at work. I witnessed a lot of discrimination, especially dark-skinned employees who didn’t have anyone to speak on their behalf when the company was looking to fire staff. Some of the workers were given redundancy but especially among the Africans, they were given redundancy without pay.” [0.11]

– GHECHE, WORKING IN HOSPITALITY AT EXPO 2020 DUBAI

Workers charged illegal recruitment fees

More than half (57%) of those interviewed had paid recruitment costs despite this being prohibited under UAE legislation and the Expo’s own standards. The average amount paid was US$1,006, with charges ranging from US$2,069 to US$50. Several participants stated that their employers were aware that the agencies they used were charging migrants recruitment fees. The UAE law requires the recruitment cost to be borne by the employer. [0.12] Sabir, who works for a private security firm, at Expo 2020 Dubai said, “I paid an amount of 100,000 Indian Rupees (US$1,322) for the recruitment agency. … The company knows about the processing charge because it routinely hires recruitment agencies to facilitate their work when they need a lot of employees.”[0.13]

Non-payment of wages and benefits

Two thirds of workers said that their wages or other benefits were not always paid on time or in full. The most common complaints involved the non-payment of wages, overtime and annual increments; salary reductions; and late payments. The latter issue caused particular hardship when the employee’s food allowance was included as part of their salary. UAE law requires employers to subscribe to the Wage Protection System (WPS) and pay as per the due date.[0.14] Expo 2020 Dubai Worker Welfare Policy also requires employers to pay employees’ wages and benefits on time and in full. Gheche, working in hospitality at Expo 2020 Dubai told Equidem, “I feel like they should improve the living and working conditions. … They promised they would review the salary every year which they didn’t do… They never paid my overtime.”[0.15]

“I never received any overtime and am always working for more than nine hours every day.”[0.16]

– IRFAN,A PAKISTANI CONSTRUCTION WORKER AT EXPO 2020 DUBAI

About the workers interviewed
69 one-on-one interviews with migrant workers in Dubai working at Expo 2020 Dubai (30 semi-structured interviews and 39 unstructured interviews) between September and December 2021. All worker names changed to protect their identity.
11 different nationalities
77% of workers interviewed were from Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Nepal and Pakistan. The rest were from 6 different African countries
22 of the interviewees were men (73%) and 8 were women (27%)
33 the average age of the women and men interviewed, whose ages ranged from 24 to 42

Retention of passports

Only one of the workers interviewed by Equidem was in possession of their passport, and both he and other interviewees stated that it was common practice for companies to retain their employees’ travel documents. UAE law prohibits employers from confiscating the passport of their employees and has declared the same as illegal.[0.17] Just over two thirds of interviewees said they could retrieve their passports when they needed to travel abroad or for official purposes (e.g. to renew their contract).

But they did not appear to have free access to their documents and had to explain why they needed them. One company forced its workers to sign forms saying that their passports had been returned to them when this was not the case. Chandra, a security guard at Expo 2020 Dubai told Equidem, “My employer has my passport. The company made us sign a paper saying we have received our passport. In reality, it is still in the office of our accommodation camp ”.[0.18]

“My employer has my passport. After we started working at the site, the site’s worker welfare person gave instructions to the company saying they had to return workers’ passports. The company made us sign a paper saying we have received our passport. In reality, it is still in the office ofour accommodation camp.”[0.19]

– CHANDRA, A NEPALI SECURITY GUARD AT EXPO DUBAI

Workers not accessing grievance mechanisms

None of workers reported or tried to address any of the problems they had at work. Several were unwilling to file complaints because they feared they would be subject to reprisals and/or it would not achieve anything. Fadhili, a security guard at Expo 2020 Dubai said, “I have never raised any complaint on the bullying, because I know there will not be any change if I make any complaint. I want to continue my job as I have some financial problems.”[0.20] Others were unaware of their rights or did not know how to resolve work-related grievances. None of the interviewees received information on their rights as required under the Expo’s own worker protection standards, either at Dubai airport or from their employer[0.21] and a third of participants stated that they were not given a copy of their contract in their native language.[0.22] Furthermore, only 10% of workers interviewed were told about key mechanisms for reporting work-related problems, namely the Worker Welfare Committees, the Worker Connect app or the Expo 2020 Dubai hotline.

All 69 individuals interviewed for this report spoke of their intense fear of reprisals from employers or the Emirati authorities, such as the police, for talking about their situation. Equidem took significant precautions to prevent and mitigate any adverse impact on researchers and the individuals who spoke to them. Equidem wrote to the UAE authorities, Expo 2020 Dubai organisers and individual businesses about the cases documented in this report. Equidem spoke to a representative of Expo 2020 Dubai responsible for worker welfare who said she could not comment as it was a matter for the event’s Higher Committee. As at timing of publication, neither Expo 2020 Dubai’s Higher Committee nor the UAE authorities had responded, despite being notified in writing before publication of this report. Only two out of thirteen companies contacted regarding complaints about working conditions made any response to Equidem.

Conclusion

Expo 2020 Dubai companies not complying with Worker Welfare Standards

None of the companies employing the 30 migrant workers interviewed at length for this research were fully complying with their contractual obligations as set out in the Worker Welfare Policy and accompanying Assurance Standards or the UAE’s labour laws. This ranged from not properly performing their due diligence (e.g. checking whether recruitment fees had been paid or providing employees with written information on their rights at work) for being involved or complicit in breaking laws (e.g. not paying wages in full and on time, retaining passports or allowing recruitment fees to be charged).