Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum

Hi everyone,

I have been having a look at the forum and wanted to ask a question about facing discrimination and racism in the UAE. I come from an Indian background (born in East Africa), but was bought up and live in Australia. I am an Australian Citizen and have been working for the Australian Federal Government for the past 5 years.

I have been considering the prospect of working in the UAE, but after reading the racism South Asians face there...am in some doubt. Would I...even though I grew up and have been educated, employed in Australia be treated the same way South Asians are (presumably) treated in the UAE? I guess being a female would probably not help the cause either.

Any advice provided will be appreciated.

NX6 wrote:Would I...even though I grew up and have been educated, employed in Australia be treated the same way South Asians are (presumably) treated in the UAE? I guess being a female would probably not help the cause either.

I believe it would be so. It's sad that many people still see the race and skin.
Having Australian passport I don't think it would help much, except that you can enter without visa. A little "advantage" maybe on education and work experience from there.
But if you have some demanded specific skills and experiences, you can stand out from the crowd, no matter who or from where you are.

Thanks for your reply xty. It's a bloody shame, but I'm used to that kind of racist discrimination even in Australia. When I lived in Sydney things were perfect, you were given jobs/projects/tasks based on your education and skills, but when I got a transfer to West Australia, things changed for the worse and the discrimination (even though it's not entirely open) I currently face is appaling (and that's working for a Federal Government Department!).

Luckily I have a very good group of friends and collegues who stick up for me and I have the support of the unions here, but I doubt I'll have that sort of support if I were to move to Dubai.

youll never know

If you have some great skills, are a great communicator, you will be fine.

I am of asian origin, also female but also grew up in Australia for the last 20 years. I have a great managerial job, and received several other good offers too.

It seems that you're already disheartened but haven't even tried yet!

Don't let it get to you and be absolutely confident in yourself and your skills.

Thank you very much for all your replies everyone

DeeDee...thank you very much for knocking some sense into me. Your right...I seemed to have given up without even trying. I guess it's cause my current employer (in Perth) gave much such a shock by blatantly discriminating against me, that I lost a lot of confidence in myself (this same department in Sydney was the complete opposite – they were absolute legends!). However now that I’m out of that rut I'm definitely going to give it a go. Thanks once again

Good Luck NX6

give it a go-- that's the aussie style!

i miss it-- i love australia

Mate,

There are plenty of colour-blind expats here who are determined not to become desensitised to the dodgy racism that surrounds us. After 9 months, I still fume at the hint of it, and do my best to fight it.

In saying that, I can say with absolute certainty that this place is WAY more race-centric than Australia (even small Aussie rural towns). In fact, this place seems to have a strong culture that revolves around label/scale/heirarchy on many different criteria, and colour is but one.

In saying all of that, we all belong to a marginalised group, and some of us several. We cope.

NX6, if you're an educated professional I don't think you'll face problems here. It's true that there's a pretty polarised social hierarchy, which is certainly to some extent based on people's race and skin colour. However, I would argue that the key status differentiator is wealth, not race.

For example, South Asian construction workers and maids generally get treated like third-class citizens here (well, not citizens obviously, but you know what I mean) and face pretty appalling discrimination. Then there are Indian accountants and middle managers who are somewhere in the middle of the expat social structure. And at the top end, I know quite a few Pakistani investment bankers who enjoy the same kind of privileged treatment and lifestyle as "white" expats.

In other words, there are a lot of racist attitudes here which may dismay and you but are unlikely to affect you personally.

+++ 1 for deedee... racism happens everywhere i think. but atleast try before backing out... then if u cant handle it, then its up to you...

DeeDee wrote:If you have some great skills, are a great communicator, you will be fine.

I am of asian origin, also female but also grew up in Australia for the last 20 years. I have a great managerial job, and received several other good offers too.

It seems that you're already disheartened but haven't even tried yet!

Don't let it get to you and be absolutely confident in yourself and your skills.

uhhmmm.... i think you should be more wary about your fellow South Asians being racist towards you.......

thats what i noticed.