I grew up really poor in Dubai as a Pakistani. The reality is 100 times worse than this video shows. I was born in the UAE in 1999 and lived there for 17 years but could never become a citizen. My dad was a construction worker so I was raised in a squatter settlement built next to the industrial zone until it was bulldozed in 2004. We were relocated to a tiny apartment near Sharjah. Everything my parents earned went towards my education in a American curriculum private school (public schools are only for citizens), where all the kids were clearly much better off than me. I remember seeing my mom and dad surviving off of leftover cheese bread given out by a nearby Pizza Hut, while they packed chicken and chocolates for my school lunch. My dad became a salesman in 2010 so things started to get better and our family started doing things we never did before like celebrating our birthdays and seeing the movies. It felt like heaven but it was short-lived because my dad passed in 2012 at the age of 55.

My mom couldn't work because of her health issues so she told me that I needed to get a job, but minors weren't allowed any formal jobs, even part-time, so I had to look for an informal job. I could have made 10 dirhams a day putting up flyers or delivering newspapers, but it wouldn't have been enough to pay for school. I ended up selling my body in order to fund my own education. I lied to my mom and told her I was working two jobs and getting bonuses. My clients were mostly Arab and European men visiting Deira, so I made 100s of dirhams on usual days and 1000s on lucky days. I remember feeling cool because they would sometimes drop me off at school with their nice cars, but it took me a while to realize how messed up that was. I graduated high school a year early and moved to Canada in 2016 with my mom. After she passed in 2020, I went through her old wallet and found a massage card with her face on it and that's when I realized that she used to do the exact same work that I did. I remember being mad at her for not working, but I didn't know that she worked until her body gave out. When she told me the scars on her arms, neck and face were all from silly accidents, I actually believed each and every one of her stories, but looking back I'm just filled with so much anger. It sucks not being able to get proper closure but I try not to think about it most of the time. Life got a lot better since I moved to Toronto and I'm currently in my 3rd year of med school. Still going strong :)

EDIT: DANG- u guys can stop blowing up my phone now, but seriously THANK YOU so much for all the kind messages ❤😭. I want to clarify that I am male and that these things can happen to any gender. I still believe in God because seeing so much evil made me want to believe that there has to be some light out there and I'm hoping to be proven right.

This feels like im watching someone try desperately to get kidnapped but they just cant get anyone to take them 😭

bro has the survival instincts of a spoon

"Labour camp" in plain ole english is wild

"Dubai is like North Korea with a Gucci belt" is a pretty dope summary

Dude seriously don't ever go back there, they will arrest you immediately for having made this video, not a joke, please take this warning seriously

bro put the "cameraman never dies" trope to the test

what hurts the most is the way those souls glanced through the window taking a silent last look of their spare moment of freedom.

i'm proud to say that the dubai hype never got to me, this is so dystopian. thank you so much ben for using your platform to showcase the real issues that are going on around the world that are being sugarcoated through propaganda and the rise of consumeristic social media influencing, it breaks my heart that those people probably thought that they were about to have a much better life there, all to be slaves that maintain the facade of wealth in that place.

I don't know who needs to read this, but don't ever let anyone take your passport when traveling. Some people get trapped and trafficked like that.

"Dubai is like North Korea with a gucci belt on"
I have NEVER heard a more accurate description in my LIFE!!

completely deadass don’t comeback here again, you broke so much of the laws and they’ll probably have you arrested for having this made

The scene of you unwrapping a dubai chocolate bar while a bus pulled up behind you to drop off camp workers was so incredibly dystopian

12:20 Seeing some dude eating Dubai chocolate while migrant labor workers are being dropped off in the background feels so dystopian

Not you literally walking through the labour camps holy shit thank god you weren’t caught or anything

I find it funny how he was saying giving hugs and kisses in public in Dubai was illegal and RIGHT behind him there was two girls hugging 😭😭

Bro lowkey. I feel like the only reason you didn’t get trafficked was because Bonita realized you were recording her. Don’t ever let anyone take your passport like that again. Thank god you’re a YouTuber.

Not only do they have slaves, they actively fund and support a genocide in Sudan in exchange for blood gold

They aren't hiding it. The rich travelers just don't give a fuck.

This has definitely been known for awhile. Dubai is one of the worst places in the world once you look just an inch beneath the surface.