Dubai, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Trept lights, doors hang from hinges and holes in the walls, expose pipes in the apartment building, where Hesham, Egyptian migrant, lives in Dubai, more famous for its glittering skiing and remedies.
His unit for hiring two bedrooms is carved to nine other men, and what he calls a home is a modified closet, large enough for a mattress.
But now the government has ordered the 44-year-old seller even from this narrow space, which costs him $ 270 a month. He is one of the many low -paid foreign workers, caught in widespread repression by the Dubai authorities for illegal submission.
This includes rooms lined with two -storey beds that do not offer privacy, but are as cheap as a few dollars per night, as well as split apartments such as Hesham’s, where plywood boards, drywall and plastic shower curtains can turn the apartment into an improvised hostel for 10 or 20 people.
After a high -floor flame in June, Dubai officials launched the campaign because of fears that split apartments pose a high risk of fire. Some of the expels are left to look for to stand on the street where begging is illegal. Others fear that they may be next, uncertain when or where inspectors can appear.
“We do not know what we are going to do now,” said Hasham, who remains placed until his landlord has kicked him out. Like others living in the cheapest and crowded spaces in Dubai, he speaks to the Associated Press, provided that only his first name is used for fear of entering the crossing of the authorities imposing a ban on illegal housing.
“We have no choice,” he said.
Dubai Municipality, which runs the city state, refused AP’s request for an interview. In a statement, she stated that the authorities had carried out inspections of the emirate to limit the dangers of fire and safety – the efforts that “would” ensure the highest standards of public safety “and lead to a” increased quality of life “for tenants. He did not turn to the place where those who cannot afford a legal home to live in a city-state that is synonymous with luxury, but still prohibits unions of unions and guarantees a minimum wage.
Dubai Boom reinforces rents
Dubai has seen a boom after the pandemic that does not show signs of stopping. Its population of 3.9 million is planned to increase to 5.8 million to 2040, as more people are moving to the mall from abroad.
A large part of the real estate market in Dubai takes care of the rich foreign professionals living there for the long run. This leaves a little affordable options for the majority of low-wage temporary migrant workers, often earning only a few hundred dollars a month. Nearly a fifth of Dubai’s homes were worth over $ 1 million last year, said real estate company Knight Frank. The developers compete to build more high -end homes.
This prolonged growth means growing rentals throughout the board. Short -term rents are expected to cost 18% more by the end of this year than 2024, according to the online colife rental company. Most migrants with whom AP talks to have said they only made $ 300 to $ 550 a month.
In lower income areas, they said, a divided space for apartments usually rents from $ 220 to $ 270 a month, while a two-storey room costs half. Both can cost less if they are shared or more depending on the size and location. In any case, they are far cheaper than a one-bedroom average rent, for which the real estate company Engel & Völkers said it operates about $ 1,400 a month.
The United Arab Emirates, like other Arabic nations in the Persian Gulf, rely on low -paid Africa and Asia workers to build, clean, babysitters and driving fees. Only EMERATES citizens who are superior nearly 9 to 1 of the people of foreign countries are entitled to a number of state benefits, including financial assistance for housing.
Large employers, from construction companies and factories to hotels and resorts, are required by law to shelter workers if they are paid less than $ 400 a month, most of which send to homes to families abroad.
However, many migrants have been unofficially hired, which makes it difficult to regulate its living conditions, said Steffen Hertog, an expert in the Gulf Labor Markets at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The repression will increase their housing costs, creating “a lot of stress for people whose life situation is already uncertain,” he said.
Hassan, a 24-year-old Uganda security guard, shares a bed in a split apartment with a friend. So far, the government has not found it, but it has reason to get upset, he said.
“They can tell you to leave without option without going anywhere.”
The fires remain a threat in Dubai
Dubai has directed the overcrowded apartments in the past against the backdrop of a number of high fires, fed by flammable siding material. The last round of checks came after a flame in June in a 67-storey tower in the Dubai neighborhood, where some apartments were separated.
More than 3,800 residents were forced to evacuate the building that had 532 occupied apartments, according to a police report. This means that seven people on average live in each of these units in the tower of apartments with one, two and three bedrooms. Dozens of homes remained uninhabited.
There were no major injuries in this fire. However, another in 2023 in the historic Drai neighborhood in Dubai killed at least 16 people and wounds nine more in a squad thought to have been divided.
Ebony, a 28-year-old wicked worker from Ghana, was recently forced to leave a split apartment after the authorities found out about it. She lived in a narrow space with a roommate, who slept over her on a Jerry plywood attic bed.
“Sometimes you even stand up,” she said, “your head will hit the plywood.”
She is now in a new apartment, a single room that contains 14 others – and sometimes more than 20 while people come and go, sharing beds. With her income of about $ 400 a month, she said she had no other opportunity and was afraid of being forced again.
“I don’t know what they want to do. They may not want the bigger part of the people here in Dubai,” Eboos said.