Military service: a nightmare for minority recruits
Military officials routinely describe Iran’s compulsory military service as an important time in a young man’s life, a sacred period in their lives when they serve their country out of duty and honor. The mandatory service is, officials are fond of telling the public, the best way of preparing the country’s young people for the possibility of war, readying them for the battlefield should the need arise. But ask anybody who has served — especially those from Iran’s minority groups — and it is immediately apparent that this account is far from the truth.
Source: Iran Wire
In rich Qatar, one restaurant lets the poor eat for free
Sixteen kilometres (10 miles) from the gleaming glass towers of Doha, one of the richest places on the planet, sits the "Industrial Area" of small-scale workshops, factories and low-cost accommodation.
It is only a 40-minute drive south of the centre of the Qatari capital and its luxury shops, upmarket brands and expensive restaurants.
But the "Industrial Area", rarely seen by outsiders, is a different Qatar -- one which provides essential labour and materials for the country's massive and relentless expansion.
Source: Your Middle East
Under the splendor and sparkle of the Gulf: modern-day slavery
“‘My message to the head of the Louvre would be to come and see how we are living here,’ said Tariq, a carpenter’s helper working on construction of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, a $653 million Middle Eastern outpost of the iconic Parisian museum. Set to be completed in 2015, its collection will include a Torah from 19th-century Yemen, Picassos, and Magrittes.”
That is how Molly Crabapple’s article for the Vice, Slaves of Hapiness Island, begins. It was published in August last year. What happened in the meantime with migrant workers of Abu Dhabi and the grand museums they are building? Well, everything is pretty much the same. Poor living and working conditions for the workers is still modus operandi in the Gulf, while spectacular museums grow like mushrooms after rain (Louvre Abu Dhabi is set to open in December this year).
Source: Middle East Revised
