WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.000 A few years ago, my eyes were opened 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:06.000 to the dark side of the construction industry. 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:09.000 In 2006, young Qatari students 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:11.000 took me to go and see the migrant worker camps. 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:16.000 And since then I've followed the unfolding issue of worker rights. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:18.000 In the last six months, more than 300 skyscrapers 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:21.000 in the UAE have been put on hold or canceled. 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:24.000 Behind the headlines that lay behind these buildings 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:28.000 is the fate of the often-indentured construction worker. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:30.000 1.1 million of them. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:33.000 Mainly Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:35.000 and Nepalese, these laborers risk everything 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:38.000 to make money for their families back home. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:40.000 They pay a middle-man thousands of dollars to be there. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.000 And when they arrive, they find themselves in labor camps with no water, 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:48.000 no air conditioning, and their passports taken away. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:52.000 While it's easy to point the finger at local officials and higher authorities, 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:56.000 99 percent of these people are hired by the private sector, 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.000 and so therefore we're equally, if not more, accountable. 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:02.000 Groups like Buildsafe UAE have emerged, 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.000 but the numbers are simply overwhelming. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:06.000 In August 2008, 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:08.000 UAE public officials noted 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:12.000 that 40 percent of the country's 1,098 labor camps 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:15.000 had violated minimum health and fire safety regulations. 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:18.000 And last summer, more than 10,000 workers 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:21.000 protested for the non-payment of wages, 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:24.000 for the poor quality of food, and inadequate housing. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:27.000 And then the financial collapse happened. 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:29.000 When the contractors have gone bust, 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:31.000 as they've been overleveraged like everyone else, 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:34.000 the difference is everything goes missing, 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:36.000 documentation, passports, 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:38.000 and tickets home for these workers. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:42.000 Currently, right now, thousands of workers are abandoned. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:44.000 There is no way back home. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:47.000 And there is no way, and no proof of arrival. 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:50.000 These are the boom-and-bust refugees. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:53.000 The question is, as a building professional, 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:55.000 as an architect, an engineer, as a developer, 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:57.000 if you know this is going on, 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:00.000 as we go to the sights every single week, 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:02.000 are you complacent or complicit 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:04.000 in the human rights violations? 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:07.000 So let's forget your environmental footprint. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:09.000 Let's think about your ethical footprint. 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:12.000 What good is it 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:15.000 to build a zero-carbon, energy efficient complex, 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:18.000 when the labor producing this architectural gem 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:21.000 is unethical at best? 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:23.000 Now, recently I've been told I've been taking the high road. 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:25.000 But, quite frankly, on this issue, 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:27.000 there is no other road. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:31.000 So let's not forget who is really paying the price of this financial collapse. 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:34.000 And that as we worry about our next job in the office, 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:38.000 the next design that we can get, to keep our workers. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.000 Let's not forget these men, who are truly dying to work. 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.000 Thank you. 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:45.000 (Applause)