"Allegations of worker exploitation at ‘world’s greatest show’ in Dubai", 02 Feb 2022

Migrant workers employed at the international fair in the UAE...allege they have been forced to pay illegal recruitment fees, suffered racial discrimination and had wages withheld and passports confiscated, said the report by Equidem.

...“significant disconnect between the Emirate’s stated ambition of being a modern, international state and the reality of racial discrimination and forced labour practices that migrant workers are facing”.

It said the UAE’s alleged failure to protect migrant workers damages the reputation of countries and companies taking part in the event.

...“The entire international community is complicit in the exploitation at the Expo. It’s a scandal.”

While there was some evidence that working conditions at the Expo were generally better than elsewhere in the UAE, the findings allegedly revealed multiple breaches of the Emirate’s labour laws, as well as the more stringent worker welfare standards introduced to protect the rights of workers...

On the eve of its official opening, in September 2021, the European parliament passed a resolution calling on international companies sponsoring the event to withdraw and a boycott by member states, citing human rights abuses in the UAE...

In October, Human Rights Watch described the Expo as an opportunity, “for the UAE to falsely present itself on the world stage...The rights group urged governments and businesses, “to avoid contributing to UAE authorities’ efforts to whitewash its abuses”.