Dubai: A City of Dreams

Dubai: A City of Dreams sheds light on the land most people only know for its huge skyscrapers and lavish amenities. The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammad, dreamed of transforming a sleepy fishing village into the ultimate metropolis of the 21st century. To make his dream come true, he turned Dubai into the biggest construction site the world has ever known at the cost of over one million cheap laborers. The laborers come from impoverished countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Southeast Asia. Their dream is much simpler. They just want to feed their children back home and carve out better lives for themselves. Instead, they work twelve hour days, six days a week. No paid vacations. They live in gated labor camps hidden away from tourists. Things got much worse with the financial collapse in 2009. Many workers ended up losing their jobs proving that Dubai is a city of dreams... just not the one they had hoped for.