[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.00,0:00:03.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A few years ago, my eyes were opened
Dialogue: 0,0:00:03.00,0:00:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the dark side of the construction industry.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.00,0:00:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 2006, young Qatari students
Dialogue: 0,0:00:09.00,0:00:11.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,took me to go and see the migrant worker camps.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.00,0:00:16.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And since then I've followed the unfolding issue of worker rights.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.00,0:00:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the last six months, more than 300 skyscrapers
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.00,0:00:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the UAE have been put on hold or canceled.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.00,0:00:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Behind the headlines that lay behind these buildings
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.00,0:00:28.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is the fate of the often-indentured construction worker.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.00,0:00:30.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,1.1 million of them.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.00,0:00:33.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Mainly Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.00,0:00:35.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Nepalese, these laborers risk everything
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.00,0:00:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to make money for their families back home.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.00,0:00:40.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They pay a middle-man thousands of dollars to be there.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.00,0:00:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when they arrive, they find themselves in labor camps with no water,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.00,0:00:48.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,no air conditioning, and their passports taken away.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.00,0:00:52.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While it's easy to point the finger at local officials and higher authorities,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.00,0:00:56.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,99 percent of these people are hired by the private sector,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.00,0:00:59.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so therefore we're equally, if not more, accountable.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.00,0:01:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Groups like Buildsafe UAE have emerged,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.00,0:01:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the numbers are simply overwhelming.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.00,0:01:06.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In August 2008,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.00,0:01:08.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,UAE public officials noted
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.00,0:01:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that 40 percent of the country's 1,098 labor camps
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.00,0:01:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had violated minimum health and fire safety regulations.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.00,0:01:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And last summer, more than 10,000 workers
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.00,0:01:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,protested for the non-payment of wages,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.00,0:01:24.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for the poor quality of food, and inadequate housing.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.00,0:01:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And then the financial collapse happened.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.00,0:01:29.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When the contractors have gone bust,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.00,0:01:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as they've been overleveraged like everyone else,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.00,0:01:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the difference is everything goes missing,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.00,0:01:36.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,documentation, passports,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.00,0:01:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and tickets home for these workers.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.00,0:01:42.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Currently, right now, thousands of workers are abandoned.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.00,0:01:44.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is no way back home.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.00,0:01:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And there is no way, and no proof of arrival.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.00,0:01:50.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These are the boom-and-bust refugees.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.00,0:01:53.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The question is, as a building professional,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.00,0:01:55.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as an architect, an engineer, as a developer,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.00,0:01:57.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if you know this is going on,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.00,0:02:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as we go to the sights every single week,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.00,0:02:02.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are you complacent or complicit
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.00,0:02:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the human rights violations?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.00,0:02:07.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So let's forget your environmental footprint.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.00,0:02:09.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's think about your ethical footprint.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.00,0:02:12.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What good is it
Dialogue: 0,0:02:12.00,0:02:15.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to build a zero-carbon, energy efficient complex,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.00,0:02:18.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when the labor producing this architectural gem
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.00,0:02:21.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is unethical at best?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.00,0:02:23.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, recently I've been told I've been taking the high road.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.00,0:02:25.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But, quite frankly, on this issue,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.00,0:02:27.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there is no other road.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.00,0:02:31.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So let's not forget who is really paying the price of this financial collapse.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.00,0:02:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that as we worry about our next job in the office,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.00,0:02:38.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the next design that we can get, to keep our workers.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.00,0:02:41.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's not forget these men, who are truly dying to work.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.00,0:02:43.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.00,0:02:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)