This Pot Is Not Melting
There's been a slew of articles over the past week in Gulf News and Al Bayan (AB is GN's Arabic sister paper) dealing with racism in the UAE. I won't argue with the general point that the UAE is racist, indeed, the racism is institutionalised at all levels, and there is a strong tendency towards ghettoisation. Today Gulf News published an English translation of two Al Bayan articles by Ms Maya Rashid Ghadeer, a UAE national.
The general gist is that nationals account for only 21% of the population and they feel that their culture and livelihood is at risk. I won't go into the pros and cons of that here, but I was struck by this comment:
Furthermore, if nationals were to complain against the expatriates, who have more privileges than they do, they would be branded as racist.
I would love to know in what sense expats have more privileges than locals. The only thing I can think of is that non-Muslim expats can get a booze licence and buy pork.
If there are any other privileges we're entitled to, somebody please tell me!
The general gist is that nationals account for only 21% of the population and they feel that their culture and livelihood is at risk. I won't go into the pros and cons of that here, but I was struck by this comment:
Furthermore, if nationals were to complain against the expatriates, who have more privileges than they do, they would be branded as racist.
I would love to know in what sense expats have more privileges than locals. The only thing I can think of is that non-Muslim expats can get a booze licence and buy pork.
If there are any other privileges we're entitled to, somebody please tell me!
Labels: demographics, racism
posted by Keef at
8:15 pm
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