Salim*, a 28-year-old Bangladeshi worker in Dubai, lives on the cusp of disaster. One false move and the four-year veteran of the city will be arrested, detained and, if he's lucky, deported home to his family. The father of two lost his passport when the construction company for which he was working went bust. All attempts to retrieve the documents failed.
Salim was then taken on illegally by a chemicals company. But as the recession started to bite late last year, the business struggled and farmed him out to building sites for casual work. When he refused these jobs because of the risk of being discovered by government labour inspectors, the foreman docked his wages. "We don't go out much at night, in case we get caught by the police," he says.
