Report published in the Journal Hebdomadaire / October 2007 Dubai dream. 30,000 Moroccans have settled. Expatriates are our bankers, waiters, prostitutes ... or producers.
Emirates Mall in the heart of new Dubai. The elevator doors open. A young Emirati between: the score at every break, white traditional dress, wearable art and discreet headset. A quick smile and continued his conversation in Arabic: "You think it's worth it ... I know that 200 million (dollars!) not absolute risk, but I likes to throw money out the window! "In the elevator, no one tick. All very normal, it seems. This same experiment Hicham, a young Moroccan banker based in Dubai, was made two years ago: " At first I thought everyone was pathological liar," he says with a smile jaded one who has seen it others. " In Dubai, you do not juggle with the same numbers. For me, a matter of 5 million is almost nothing . And out of his Blackberry when he shows off an email sent the same day by an acquaintance who asks him to release $ 5 million. He then explains: " This guy just lost all credibility, he does not know how it works here .
" Impossible is not an Arab! "could exclaim almost an alien discovering Dubai. The wildest projects to find buyers and excess is the rule: an army of buildings that defy gravity, artificial ski resort in the desert, islands created from scratch, six-lane highways bottled Porsche, Ferrari and Hummer ... Here, gigantism is a trademark. Like the Burj al-Arab became the national emblem, which remains the only hotel the world to see seven stars. Or Burj Dubai tower in 2009 and has 162 floors over 800 meters high! By marrying modern, Dubai is thumbing its nose at the often retrograde Arab countries. Very soon, this small emirate has played the card of innovation to anticipate the depletion of oil resources. So today, the non-oil revenue represents about 95% of GDP against 45% last thirty years. Dubai is now offering a quality service second to none, an island of security in the heart of a turbulent region. With 80% of foreigners, the United Arab Emirates are also a cultural crossroads at the junction of Europe and Asia. But in this laboratory excellence Arabic, cosmopolitanism is a façade. It is in fact based on an ethnic organization of society. More than two million Asians who represent half of the population are relegated to menial tasks, while Emirates-born nationals and other Gulf countries monopolize the shift to higher value added. Westerners, Americans and British in mind, are no exception. Paid on the nail, they can enjoy satiety to a luxury almost limitless.
In this mosaic of nationalities, 30,000 Moroccans living in the UAE no doubt occupy a place apart. They are caught between two worlds that coexist without meeting.
The fame and money
Kawtar, whose business card announces that it is very stylish "Production manager, has just returned to Dubai after few months in Morocco: "I had hardly benchmarks. Some yards were gone, replaced by skyscrapers that seem to have always been there. Here, everything goes very fast, it changes from Morocco ". Very fast, very loud, very loud ... Dubai supports only superlatives. Everything is done to an eyeful. Hassan Benslimane and remembers his arrival in the UAE in 2005: " After traveling in Business Class, when I left the plane, a Sri Lankan waiting. I gave him my passport and he has managed for me all the formalities. Once outside, a driver I opened the door of a limousine. I had not yet started work I was already hooked! "This 29 year old banker with a smile and the assurance of the man who succeeds. It's been barely two years he is in Dubai, and it displays two promotions already on the odometer. Today, Africa is the head of his bank, one of the largest of the Emirates. It almost justifies not having the Porsche, but "just" a 4 × 4 Ford. Voluble, he heaps praise on the lives and work he has found here: apartment in a trendy tower with pool Gym, Jacuzzi. He says even be "hostesses" available in his building: " Earlier, a neighbor that I do not know, a Russian, has come to my door to take from me. She asked me if I did Ramadan. " Side work, accountability is in order: " Here, we do not feel the weight of bureaucracy. I have an obligation of result and I noted in my annual turnover. If the results do not go, I can be dismissed without notice. But everything is clear is stimulating. "Morocco is for him to light years. " At Casablanca, BMCE, I was paid 15,000 dirhams. In two years in Dubai, I have had nearly ten years in terms of career. In Morocco, there is really considered until forty years. "Consider he return home? The answer fuse " Why? I go back maybe in ten years to wedge myself in a comfortable leather chair, put my face down on the desk and give orders. There is nothing else to do there. "Hicham is a man of contacts and networks. Moroccans Rise in Dubai, he knows almost everyone. They are a hundred to attend regularly. In this month of Ramadan, they meet several times a week for poker parties where everyone shows off his success. Before joining his alter ego , Hicham is a quick overview of cars parked in the parking lot: "This Porsche belongs to a Moroccan. From all of us is the one who wins the most money . He immediately adds: " Here is the excessive materialism, but at another level in Morocco. We do not talk, we show . And before we leave, by way of goodbye: " Remember me ... in ten years! "
Kawtar she receives in offices leased by his production company in a large hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road: Apple's latest model computer machine, Nespresso all tastes, friendly atmosphere. At 28, she juggles her two phones with the ease of a business woman accomplished. low waist jeans, French manicure and clothing brand, it seems to have found happiness in Dubai. However, his stay Emirates is very similar to a forced exile. "Sama Dubai offered me 17,000 DH for a job in Morocco. I refused. I have much higher requirements. Today, she earns around 35,000 a DH and a lifestyle that suits him perfectly. " I never dines at home in the evenings, I meet many interesting people. In Dubai, we feel less social pressure that can undergo an independent woman all out there. I live like I want. She admits, however, does not want to do all his life: " If I get a job at DH 30,000 in Morocco I get home. I contemplated starting a family in my country. His sister Soumaya is much more skeptical. The past thirty, she made a cross to Morocco where she comes home only for holidays. Producer at MBC, it refuses to "amateurism prevailing throughout Morocco ": " People here are pros, the environment is stimulating. We are going forward. "
The downside
While some Moroccans are the way to success in Dubai for many others, the paths of glory are lost in maze. Lured by attractive offers, many of our compatriots who disillusioned very quickly. Rashid in Dubai for three years. At 28, he is the oldest of his colleagues at the Royal Mirage servers. He earns the equivalent of 4,200 dirhams per month. He did not retire, but he is fed, housed and milled and most of its health care are borne by the employer. Incommensurate with what he could expect in Morocco. After a few years in college without a diploma to the key, he chained seasonal contracts in Ouarzazate, enjoying the windfall films Americans turned to the kingdom. " But the attacks of 2003 have complicated everything. That's when I agreed to go into exile in Dubai. He did not spit on their living conditions, but critical " this superficial society where consumption is the only pleasure. "At 23, Amina, a graduate of IMTH Rabat is also server. He claims to suffer from racism and lack of consideration for some customers: "The Saudis take us to their minions . It is four in rooms of 15 square meters with Pakistanis and Sri Lankans, and we are not regarded as Arabs . And to add " our passports are confiscated. "However, none of them has come home immediately:" Too corruption, theft at the checkout, no professionalism . Here at least they can change rapidly in their careers ;: "Given the tourism grows and the quality of services is an excellent reference. It helps boost a CV. While in Morocco, one server can remain throughout his life. "Maybe Saad for the call of the country is the strongest: Moroccan clients receiving a fancy restaurant in Dubai, it distributes jokes in Darija. But beneath the joviality of the server of 23 years lies a rootless for whom rap is a way to sing a malaise. He is ashamed of "dirty these prostitutes who have the honor of [his] country ." He does not admit that he is Moroccan learner Saudis ask him to play immediately mackerel and "fend of their girls. "Prostitutes are the most popular Moroccan market, more expensive than the Russians and the Lebanese. Obviously, we do not find them in the street. Everything is done discreetly boxes in the alcoves lounge fashion as York Club or Amnesia. They sell their charms for the equivalent of 2,000 DH goes, not to mention all the "next." They have done so well as Dubai runs a proverb: " Moroccan, it is not a nationality but a job! "
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