ABU DHABI // Gul Mohammed has not been behind the wheel of his taxi for almost a year.
He has lived in the capital for more than two decades, moving from one job to another before finally settling on driving a cab.
He drove one car for more than 15 years but as the old white-and-gold models were phased out, Mr Mohammed was left with no vehicle, just a licence and mounting debts.
"No English, no work," said Gul Rahood, who shares a room with Mr Mohammed in a dilapidated villa on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi.
"Now, they want men who can read English, write English. But we don't have that kind of education."
Mr Mohammed, 50, lives with 15 men, all from the same village north of Peshawar in Pakistan. Most are commercial vehicle drivers.
While Mr Mohammed is the eldest in the group, many of the youngest, who have been in the country for up to two years, are also without work.
Only five in the group are working. They pool their money to support each other, paying Dh5,000 a month for their crumbling two-room villa.
"This used to be a residential area," said Jamal Khan, who shares a nearby villa with six other men.
"But the families have moved to the big buildings and for us bachelors, no one will rent their places to us. So we live here."
Their homes near Mohammed bin Zayed City could well be razed to the ground any day now.
Surrounded by lorries, buses, minivans and taxis, the leafy neighbourhood houses a few hundred men, all from Pakistan.
But in booming Abu Dhabi, with construction projects in full swing all across town, these men have yet to capitalise on the city's prosperity. Mr Khan estimates that at least three men are competing for every driving job.
With workers in their thousands losing their jobs across the region, thousands have descended on the city in search of work, seeing Abu Dhabi as relatively unscathed by the crisis.
Mr Khan says a number of his relatives who lost their jobs as lorry drivers in Dubai are now in Abu Dhabi, along with workers from recession-hit Middle Eastern countries such as Yemen and Kuwait.
The result has been a glut in the labour market, allowing employers to demand better-educated workers. Indeed, the greater number of workers applying for jobs means employers can now be more selective.
Taxi companies, for instance, now have enough applicants to insist that all their drivers speak good English. "We have licences, but no vehicles to drive," said Mr Rahood. "Some have vehicles and licences, but there is no work for them."
On his mobile phone, Mr Rahood carries a picture of the lorry he drives, transporting scaffolding and other heavy-duty construction materials. Sometimes his work takes him as far as Ras al Khaimah, and he can earn up to Dh500 in a week. But the rising cost of living makes it increasingly hard for him to keep his head above water.
Some of the men who arrived from Pakistan with promises of work in recent years are instead running up heavy debts, he says.
"Nowadays, in our country there is no justice and no law. The big people make money, " said Mr Rahood.
"We can make a hundred rupees in a day, but what is that when your expenses are double? Where even two pieces of bread are promised, men will go there for work."
The average price these men pay for a work visa to the UAE is Dh14,000. On top of that, they have to take driving lessons costing Dh100 an hour, and pay up to Dh2,000 for a licence. Then there is rent, food and living costs. The men pool their money to help each other to meet these costs, and to cover each other's driving lessons.
But with costs mounting, they struggle to send the anxiously awaited funds to their families back home.
"Just because I am here and not working does not mean a roof does not exist over my children's heads," said Mr Khan.
His brothers in Pakistan are looking after his family until he can start sending money home again.
Bonds of loyalty mean all can count on one another in times of crisis. At weekends, they spend time receiving relatives from elsewhere in the UAE. In the meantime, they are reluctant to move, and abandon a support system built up over decades. But more and more, a move is seeming inevitable.
"It is kismet [fate]," said Mr Khan. "Some will stay together, some won't."
@Email:sbhattacharya@thenational.ae
Notable Yas events in 2017/18
October 13-14 KartZone (complimentary trials)
December 14-16 The Gulf 12 Hours Endurance race
March 5 Yas Marina Circuit Karting Enduro event
March 8-9 UAE Rotax Max Challenge
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Meydan racecard:
6.30pm: Handicap | US$135,000 (Dirt) | 1,400 metres
7.05pm: Handicap | $135,000 (Turf) | 1,200m
7.40pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes | Group 3 | $200,000 (T) | 2,000m
8.15pm: UAE Oaks | Group 3 | $250,000 (D) | 1,900m
8.50pm: Zabeel Mile | Group 2 | $250,000 (T) | 1,600m
9.20pm: Handicap | $135,000 (T) | 1,600m
MATCH INFO
CAF Champions League semi-finals first-leg fixtures
Tuesday:
Primeiro Agosto (ANG) v Esperance (TUN) (8pm UAE)
Al Ahly (EGY) v Entente Setif (ALG) (11PM)
Second legs:
October 23
About Takalam
Date started: early 2020
Founders: Khawla Hammad and Inas Abu Shashieh
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech and wellness
Number of staff: 4
Funding to date: Bootstrapped
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5