Rising Scholar: A Cycle of Slavery: Migrant Labor and Human Rights Violations in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

This Rising Scholar article examines how, through a combination of insufficient laws and enforcement, the UAE government allows for the exploitation of migrant workers to prompt economic development and provide cheap labor for elite private citizens and major construction corporations, in effect creating a cycle of modern slavery. Immigrant workers are trapped in this cycle of slavery, indebted to different money lenders, and left vulnerable to exploitation due to the lack of legal protections.