The United States Department of State has cited widespread instances of blue collar labor abuse within the city and in the general context of the United Arab Emirates [www.state.gov].

The government has been criticized by human rights agencies such as Human Rights Watch for its inaction in addressing the discrimination against Asian workers in the emirate. Salary structures based on nationality, sex, age, and race rather than on qualification are common [www.hrw.org].

The United Arab Emirates also lacks a fair immigration and naturalization policy.

A thriving sex industry, although illegal, exists in the emirates, especially in Dubai. This complements the tourism and hospitality industry which forms a major part of Dubai's economy [www.socialaffairsunit.org].

Passport

A passport is a formal identity document or certification issued by a national government that identifies the holder as a national of a particular state, and requests permission, in the name of the sovereign or government of the issuing country, for the bearer to be permitted to enter and pass through other countries. Passports are connected with the right of legal protection abroad and the right to enter one's country of nationality. Passports usually contain the holder's photograph, signature, date of birth, nationality, and sometimes other means of individual identification. Many countries are in the process of developing biometric properties for their passports in order to further confirm that the person presenting the passport is the legitimate holder.

A passport is usually necessary for international travel, as it normally needs to be shown at a country's border, although there exist agreements whereby the citizens of some countries can enter some other countries with other identity documents. It may be stamped or sealed with visas issued by the host country authorising entry.

Some governments try to control the movements of their own and other citizens by issuing so-called internal passports. For instance, in the Soviet Union, all citizens were issued propiska to control their movement around the country. This system has been partly retained in Russia.

As identifying documents, passports are frequent subjects of theft and forgery. See also

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Expatriate

An expatriate (in abbreviated form expat) is someone temporarily or permanently in a country and culture other than that of their upbringing and/or legal residence. The word comes from the Latin ex (out of) and patria (country), and is sometimes misspelt as ex-patriot, due to its pronunciation.

The term is often used in the context of Westerners living in non-Western countries, athough there are many instances of Westerners living in other Western countries, such as Australians living in the United Kingdom, or Britons living in Spain.

A nickname for such people in the UK is the "When I"s, or "When we"s, as they are accused of starting conversations by saying "When I was in Rhodesia" or "When we were in Singapore". Similarly, they are sometimes even viewed by their fellow citizens as foreigners, particularly their children, whose accents may seem strange to their classmates. The children of expatriates are often considered "Third Culture Kids" (or TCKs) and later in life consider themselves "Adult Third Culture Kids" (or ATCKs). These children often hold passports from multiple countries, speak several different languages, and have a hard time defining where "home" is.

The difference between an expatriate and an immigrant is that immigrants (for the most part) commit themselves to becoming a part of their country of residence, whereas expatriates are usually only temporarily placed in the host country and most of the time plan on returning to their home country, so they never adopt the culture in the host country. While Europeans or North Americans living in the Middle East and Asia may marry local people and have children, most see no advantage in adopting citizenship of their host countries, usually because they consider their stay only temporary. In some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, expatriates are required to live in segregated compounds, meaning that integration into their host country's society is not an option.

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Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization based in New York City, USA, that conducts advocacy and research on human rights issues.

The organization was founded under the name Helsinki Watch in 1978 to monitor the former Soviet Union's compliance with the Helsinki Accords. As the organization grew, it formed other "watch committees" to cover other regions of the world. In 1988, all of the committees were united under one umbrella to form Human Rights Watch.

Human Rights Watch's specialty is the production of authoritative research reports on human rights violations, usually intended to draw international attention to abuses, and to put pressure on governments and international organizations to prevent further violations of human rights. Researchers conduct fact-finding missions to countries to investigate violations and generate extensive coverage in local and international media. Major issues raised by the organization in its reports include social and gender discrimination, torture, military use of children, government corruption, and abuses in criminal justice systems in many nations. It also specializes in documenting and reporting violations of the laws of armed conflict and international humanitarian law.

Human Rights Watch was one of six international NGOs that founded the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers in 1998. It is also the co-chair of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a global coalition of civil society groups that successfully lobbied to introduce the Ottawa Convention, a treaty that prohibits the use of anti-personnel landmines.

Each year, Human Rights Watch gives grants to writers all over the world who have been victims of political persecution and are in financial need. The Hellman/Hammett grants are financed by the estate of the playwright Lillian Hellman in funds set up in her name and that of her long-time companion, the novelist Dashiell Hammett. The two American writers were interrogated in the 1950s about their political beliefs and affiliations. In addition to providing much needed financial assistance, the Hellman/Hammett grants raise awareness of censorship around the world.

Human Rights Watch is also a member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange, a global network of non-governmental organisations that monitors censorship worldwide and campaigns to defend journalists, writers, Internet users and others who are persecuted for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

Like many human rights groups, Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty, opposes restrictions to abortion, and proposes that marriage be re-defined to include same-sex couples It has also called for condom distribution in prisons.

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salary

A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which is specified in an employment contract.

While 'wage' and 'salary' are often used interchangeably, 'salary' refers in particular to payment associated with a position over a fixed period of time, such as per week, per month, or per year. A manager or other person with oversight responsibilities (commonly referred to as a 'white-collar worker') would be more likely to draw a salary which does not vary with hours worked (also meaning that she would not receive overtime pay). A labourer or 'blue-collar worker' would take wages (usually paid weekly, biweekly, or monthly), based upon the actual hours worked.

From the point of view of running a business, salary can also be viewed as the cost of acquiring human resources for running operations, and is then termed personnel expense or salary expense. In accounting, salaries are recorded in payroll accounts.

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