Two nights and one day were more than enough to satisfy my curiosity in regard to this city of gold, city of wonders and to conclude exactly this: that you do not need more time than that. As my Pa…
Source: Dubai this blonde bombshell with liposuction and silicone
We put our head down , as the poor relatives and asked for forgiveness for being poor! Instead Romanians should have just stand up and remind the host countries that this is a legal right , whether it comes during economic crisis or not. Furthermore according to the Equality and Human Rights Acts in the UK they should have sued the British media for direct discrimination, slander and xenophobia. There was no vilification of the A8 states when they adhered to the EU in 2004 (if you re keen on statistics : Eurostat: 1.1 million workers from A8 states after 2004), there is no vilification today of masses of Spanish and Portuguese immigrants flocking the British shores as we speak.
Some intelligent speakers (e.g activist Angela Davis, Green Party leader Natalie Bennett,Seumas Milne, The Guardian; Malcom James and Naaz Rashid from Open Democracy- an independent forum champion of human rights only to name but few ) did point out that these is a political manoeuvre to scape goat the immigrants for the ill-functioning of the benefits system, the immigration control and the NHS in the UK. The UK government have not made any single essential reform to the welfare system in the last 7 years since Romania and Bulgaria had joined the EU . They are indeed burdened overstretched public systems nowhere near being foolproof against scroungers . It s something similar to the proverbial Romanian story on stupidity : a family waiting for the salt stone to fall off their cupboard and harm a baby in a cot , with the family wailing their imminent misfortune instead of logically removing the stone or the baby.
I do hear the truthful plight of the native Brit who sees the salaries plummeting as there is a big pool of active workers due to immigration. But these are the effects of the free market and the UK governments have again done little to protect the interests of the employees , small businesses, to protect jobs and impose sanctions, besides just recently in 2014 raising the minimum wage to £6.31an hour from £6.19.
The whole debate and thorny issue on the Romanian &Bulgarian immigration descended into circus on the 1st and 2d of January 2014 when British official came to Luton airport to tick off masses of Romanians/Bulgarians descending on British soil. There was just one poor Romanian with a promised job who was microscopically analysed , dirt dug and all , deemed damaged goods (somehow the British tabloids have been miraculously contacted by this guy’s Romanian acquaintances) and put on the stake as the profile of the Romanian immigrant. In the words of the Romanian ambassador in London : Waiting for Godot!, no better chosen word for this absurd farce.
Meanwhile there is an abundance of agencies and English employer advertising in Romania for lots of UK and German jobs , many of which related to high paid professions: dentists, doctors, nurses, IT.
#On behalf of the Bulgarian people I d like to bust another myth and bring a much needed of setting the record straight: I could understand the British fear of a big invasion coming from Romania, a large Barbarian hoard from a country of 20 millions. But hey why pick on Bulgarians? 2013 demographics show that there are only 6.9 million Bulgarians with population growth steadily on minus, out of which 1.3 million (19%)pensioners, 1.6(24%) million children or under-24 and with a total dependency (read people unable of not of working age) of 49% of population. Half of the working force is busy anyway in Sunny Beach catering for the drunken British hens and stags!
Conclusion: Romanians and Bulgarians have gained a legal right, paid their EU dues and should be free to roam around Europe, free from blame and name calling. The negative effects of such migration should not be blamed on them but on the governments of the host countries that failed to reform the systems and to protect their citizens and the country from the negative impact .There are many measures that other states took quite successfully to prevent criminality , benefit fraud and illegal work: deportation of criminals, registration requirements , proof of work or study (police checks on the streets e.g Spain), benefits gained only after an x number of months/years of work (all Eastern European countries such as Slovakia , Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary , Romania, Latvia,Lithuania, Hungary Slovenia all impose at least 1 year of active working and other countries such as Luxembourg, Holland, Denmark, Belgium, Greece, Portugal , Sweden -6 months qualifying period of active work ), more background checks on accessing public services etc. And all these were supposed to be done years ago.
The economic laws of migration will come into effect naturally: the immigration stops when there are no jobs. Best example Spain.
On a personal level I am already affected: all the time I have to hear around me derogatory comments regarding Romanians, get the rolling eyes when I might be accessing public services, even worse be refused opportunities because of my nationality (e.g loans, citizenship etc).And I will always painfully ask myself when I do not get a job or an interview for a job
if I have been refused because I m Romanian.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/10391238/Benefits-in-Europe-country-by-country.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-ion-jinga/romania-immigration_b_4451633.html
ttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/01/scapegoating-bulgarian-romanian-migrants-britain-crisis
http://www.indexmundi.com/bulgaria/demographics_profile.html
http://brightgreenscotland.org/index.php/2013/07/green-party-leader-slams-immigrant-scapegoating/
It took me a while to come up with this post as I wanted to do as much research as possible and get an objective or at least informed perspective on this issue.
There was a surge at the end of 2013 and beginning of 2014in the articles and reports in the media , especially in the UK and Germany, focusing on the new ‘immigration wave’ (mind the inverted commas) from Romania and Bulgaria.
The articles focused frantically on different aspects: How many will they come? Will they come for benefits?How many of them will stay? Will they adapt?etc. And then they all hailed x y z statistics to support this fear, each day different ones, each that would contradict previous figures, each day different polls , depending on who funded these polls (BNP, Labour, pro-European lobbies etc.). These were all derisory questions and irrelevant matters meant just to increase xenophobia, scaremongering and finally prove nothing.
If you type in Romanian immigrants in Google search Images the representative results are only pictures of dirty gypsy squatters , poor babushkas and of course the Cheeky Girls.
In the last quarter of 2013 there was a strong lobbying by conservatives MPs and BNP/UKIP members (one of them the infamous Nigel )to put a ban on the Romanian& Bulgarian migration or to maintain the restrictions that have been in place since Romania had joined the EU in 2007. They’ve even appealed to cheap gimmicks to deter the immigrants: advertising campaigns about bad weather . To no avail though as Romanians and Bulgarians gained a legal right to have access to the EU labor market and to have restrictions lifted. I would like to emphasize at this stage the term legal right endorsed by the European law and Courts.It did not stop here .Publications such as the tabloid Daily Mail posted articles like ‘Romanians arrested at 7 times rate than Britons’ in London , utter fabrications. This accusation was dismissed afterwards by the Metropolitan Police.
The Romanian response was really poor and badly argued. The Romanians put a front of apologetic rhetoric trying to reassure the Brits and Germans that there won’t be many Romanian immigrants and even those that will come they will mainly seek to study and high profile jobs. They were also giving ever so numerous examples of ‘successful or famous Romanians’ in the UK and Germany.
Let’s face it : Romania’s economy is down hill full tilt and according to recent studies there are about 7 to 8 millions (yes that is right!) of Romanians living bellow or on the cusp of the poverty line. So yes Romanians will come, very probably in large numbers, from all social strata, gypsies too, for all sort of low paid or high end jobs . Based on logic they will most likely come to work rather then ask for benefits simply because you can’t just ask for benefits and immediately get it as soon as you step into the UK -except child benefits-(if you do not believe me go and try). The majority of these people will also most likely have poor families at home waiting for some money to be sent over , so again the Romanian /Bulgarian immigrant will most certainly be a worker.
The comparison ad nauseam between the the 2 countries’ minimum wages and cost of living does not make sense either. What the papers did not take into account is that the immigrant on a minimum wage in the UK has to live here paying steep sterling pound prices for rent , tax, services, everything so one will struggle here too on a minimum wage to make ends meet.
Therefore the average Briton should ask oneself : what sort of person will leave land and family to come to a unfamiliar place and culture, with possibly little language skills or many with high education and professions and accepting any minimum wage job, of many unsocial hours , living in some rough area in a box, often in a crowded house in order to make ends meet?
The logical and grim answer will be : people who otherwise will starve or freeze in winter , who are not able to raise their children ,do not have money for a doctor or medicine , do not have money to care for the family’s elderly and sick , do not have a place of their own or do not have jobs for a long time or any sort of future.
Two nights and one day were more than enough to satisfy my curiosity in regard to this city of gold, city of wonders and to conclude exactly this: that you do not need more time than that.
As my Pakistani taxi driver summed it up very well: ‘everything here , ma’am , it’ s a duplicate’.
Dubai prides itself with its safety, which seems to be a real promise, unless you end up in a tragic situation similar to the famous case of rape of a Norwegian woman this year, where she became the accused instead of the victim.
The benevolent ruler Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum(even I remembered his long name after being drummed a hundred times into my ears during my 3 hours bus tour ) and his family have taken the money from oil and built a modern infrastructure: roads, metro , shops for the people. But the famous Arabic hospitality is non-existent as more than 90 % of the services are delivered by Filipino women and Indian/Pakistani men. And although yes , it does create thousands of jobs that ‘feed many mouths back home’ (in the words of my taxi driver) for the immigrants , one can not escape the feel of modern exploitation , of building a brand new city on the broken backs of poor immigrants .
This modern form of indentation was also confirmed to me by other reliable close sources, formerly residing in Dubai, with references to: withheld passports, no such concept of equal pay, holidays given as it suits the employer and ‘ownership’ of the employee by the employer who paid the visa or the travel expenses.
The whole of Dubai is an artificial heaven , build in the dessert, with million of gallons of desalinated water, having even man-made islands, oases and gardens. A large part of that expensive desalinated water is used though to maintain some private rich golf courses . Everything is aimed at being bigger, better, grander than…It s like a race against some world famous buildings and landmarks. Burj Khalifa , the tallest in Dubai and possible in UAE is described as almost double in size than Empire States Building, Burj Al Arab was the 1st 7 stars hotel in the world , the Dubai Marina is a challenge to the Hong Kong’s skyline, while Dubailand wants to be a bigger version of Disnayland Orlando.
A couple of picture of the famous towers, a ramble through a traditional suq and a water taxi ride or Dowa cruise down Dubai Creek would form the points of real interest of a visit around the city.
The rest , left right and centre, you’ re presented ad nauseam with one luxury hotel after another, with its awarded gym , panoramic view and gourmet restaurants , one mall after another, all with ‘reasonably priced designer label’ (direct quote from the tour bus guiding tape). In spite of being an alleged tax-free haven this place is not the much advertised shopping spree paradise but rather a snobbish pastime for Emirati and some expats or tourists with large pockets.
Some traveling tips:
If you d like to visit Dubai do not take the sightseeing bus at would be cheaper or the same to go with a taxi from one landmark to another. Taxi is indeed an affordable luxury.
Although there is not specific warning or information about hotel stays on the official UAE related tourism sites most hotels will retain your passport on arrival for police checks, for the first night.
I am not sure it is actually legal.
Also you might have problems if you have an Israeli visa in your passport. If you plan to go to Israel better ask the authorities to give you a separate stamped paper , they will understand.
Don’t overdo it with the covering, you do not need to appear there like a monastery nun.
KMPastor 