On the outskirts of Dubai, far away from the glass and stainless steel ziggurats of banks and hotels, Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani workers stumble out of their buses as they return home to Sonapur after a 12-hour shift at various ostentatious developments in the city.

Silently they enter one of the sprawling ghettos of labour camps that is home to more than 100,000 blue-collar servants and workers. Wet work clothes are slung limply over the rails and the ground is moist with raw sewage escaping from the rusty pipes on the ground.