Indians in the United Arab Emirates
Encyclopedia
Indians in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) constitute a large part of population of the country
. Over a million India
n migrants are estimated to be living in the UAE (2000), who form over 40% of the total population of the UAE. A majority of Indians live in the three largest cities of the UAE — Dubai
, Abu Dhabi
and Sharjah
. Indian contact with the emirates that now constitute the UAE dates back several centuries, as a result of trade and commerce between the emirates and India
. More recently, the UAE has experienced a tremendous increase in the population of Indians who, having migrated to the country as a result of opportunities in petroleum
, construction and other industries, far outnumber the population of local emiratis. While most Indian migrants support the manufacturing and transport industries, a sizable minority of migrants are involved in professional services and entrepreneurship. Relations between India and the UAE have traditionally been friendly, though recent incidents relating to the treatment of the Indian migrant labour force by companies in the UAE have been the source of friction between the two nations.
The Persian Gulf
has had a long established economic and political link with India. Trucial Oman (now UAE
), was nominally independent in the 19th century but was administered by the British Raj
; trade and banking sectors in the territory were administered by the Khoja
and Kutchi
communities of India. In 1853, the rulers of the emirates signed a Perpetual Maritime Truce with the British, effectively bringing the region under Britain's sphere of influence. Administered from British India, the emirates developed commonalities with South Asia
. Indian Rupee
s were used as currency, as were Indian stamps (overlaid with the name of the emirate) for postal correspondence. A fairly homogeneous society at the turn of the 20th century, the region that now comprises the UAE experienced an economic boom as a result of the pearling
industry; the few Indian traders emigrating to the emirates moved to the coastal towns and remained on the fringes of Emirati society. Dubai had traditionally served as an entrepôt
for trade between the Middle East
and the Indian subcontinent
and was dominated by Hindu
merchants in both gold and textile trade. Dubai was also an important trading post for Indians prior to the discovery of oil (in commercial quantities) in the UAE in 1959; the emirate had been at the centre of a smuggling route of gold to India via small boats, where the importation of gold was illegal.
The discovery of oil brought with it an influx of workers from India in the 1960s. Many came via sea, a trip of about three days from Bombay (now Mumbai) to Dubai. Most of the shopkeepers were from the state of Kerala
, or were Indian Arabs, descendants of Arabs who had previously emigrated to India. It was also in the late 1960s that the Hindu Temple
and first Indian schools were built for expatriate Indian families. Indian migration to the UAE drastically increased in the 1970s and 1980s, with the expansion of the oil industry and the growth of free trade
in Dubai. Annual migration of Indians to the UAE, which stood at 4,600 in 1975, rose to over 125,000 by 1985, and stood at nearly 200,000 in 1999.
state of Kerala
, followed by migrants from Maharashtra
, Gujarat and Goa
. The majority of Indians were Muslim
s (56%), followed by Christian
s (26%) and Hindu
s (16%). Naturalisation and citizenship
laws in the UAE effectively make it impossible for a path to permanent residency or citizenship. A vast majority of Indian migrants are on employment based visa
s, while others are on business or trade visas. Approximately 26% of Indian migrants live in apartments or villa
s in the large cities of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, while 15% live in rented rooms in cities. The remaining migrants (about one-third) live in collective labour accommodations (referred to as labour camps), such as those in Mussafah (Abu Dhabi) or Sonapur (Dubai). Approximately 88% of those living in collective labour accommodations live in rooms with an average occupancy ranging from four to eight. Recently, Human Rights Watch
criticised the labour accommodations, calling the living conditions less than human.
In addition, over 300,000 undocumented migrants, many of whom are Indian, are said to be living in the UAE. Undocumented migrants, if caught, are jailed and then deported to their home countries. A federal law enacted in 1996 in the UAE imposed sanctions against undocumented migrants and their employers. The UAE government offers amnesty
programs where foreign undocumented workers can voluntarily leave the country without facing imprisonment or having to pay fines. One such three month amnesty program in 2007 benefitted 110,000 illegal Indian migrants, all of whom were either legally reabsorbed into the UAE workforce or allowed to return to India without sanctions or imprisonment.
, Jumbo Electronics, Choitram's, the Varkey Group, Alukkas
, Lal's and New Medical Center
. By 1996, at least 150 Indian companies were operating in the Jebel Ali Free Zone
(JAFZ), and even today, more than 50% of work force are Indian only in one of the most successful and role model Free Trade Zone of world. Over 35% of Indian workers in the UAE were engaged in manufacturing
, transport and related professions, while 20% were engaged in professional and technical fields. A study conducted in 2004 found the median
salary range of Indian migrants to be between Dh
1,001—1,500 (between US$
270—408) per month (or US$ 3,240—4,896 per year), considerably below the national per capita income
of US$ 55,200. Only 9% of those surveyed earned a salary of Dh 5,000 (US$ 1,360) or more per month. However, a 2005 Merrill Lynch
report estimated that there were approximately 33,000 Indian millionaire
s living in the UAE. Indian works typically save most of their earnings through employment benefits on accommodation and transport, and income tax
free provisions of the UAE. As a result, a majority of the money is remitted for the maintenance of migrants' households in India. In 2005, an estimated US$ 7 billion was remitted, about half of which was sent through informal hawala
channels. About 70% of all remittances from the UAE (or US$ 5 billion) was sent to India, with 60% alone being remitted to Kerala
.
A small number of Indian migrants have been involved in criminal activities in the Middle East, including smuggling
, trade in narcotics, extortion
s and other activities. Dubai, in particular, has been associated with the smuggling of gold, precious metals and electronics. Dawood Ibrahim
, head of the organised crime syndicate D-Company
, is estimated to have smuggled 20 to 30 tons of gold to India annually. On January 19, 2003, Sharad Shetty
, one of Dawood Ibrahim's associates who controlled a vast cricket betting
empire was shot dead by rival gangmembers while entering the India Club in Oud Metha, Dubai.
, and partly due to the pre-colonial history of trade, commerce and settlement between the two nations. In 1999, the UAE government secured the release of 25 civilian passengers on board Indian Airlines flight IC-814 that had been hijacked
and forced to land in Dubai en route to New Delhi
from Katmandu, Nepal
. However, several incidents, mainly concerning India's expatriate workforce in the UAE, have caused friction in Indo-Emirati relations. Indian consuls are consulted over disputes over wages and working conditions. On March 21, 2006, construction workers, many of whom were Indian, rioted at the construction site of Burj Khalifa, upset over bus timings, poor wages and living conditions.
The large segment of Indian migrants, along with comparatively lenient laws in the UAE have allowed Indian communities to more or less practice their native cultures in the country. Middle class
Indians in the UAE have established a network of cultural associations which cater to their needs. Cultural associations such as the India Club, Indian Association, Goan Cultural Society and numerous Keralite associations support cultural networks of the Indian sub-communities in the UAE. Additionally, schools such as the Abu Dhabi Indian School
and The Indian High School, Dubai
provide Indian curricular education to expatriate students. Dubai is the only emirate in the UAE with a Hindu temple
and Sikh Gurudwara. Non-Muslims are allowed to conduct their religious ceremonies in their private homes without interference. Dubai and Sharjah are the only emirates with operating cremation
facilities in the Emirates. Official permission must be obtained for their use in every instance. Churches exist in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah. In 1998, the government of Dubai donated land for the construction of a facility to be shared by five congregations, four Protestant and one Catholic
. Non-Muslims may practice their religions but may not proselytise publicly.
Restaurants serving Indian food are very popular and widely available in the Emirates. Many of the hotels in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have Indian restaurants that serve Mughlai or Tandoor
cuisine, while vegetarian South Indian
and Udupi cuisine
are widely available and popular in the larger cities of the UAE. India-Pakistan cricket
matches are widely followed by the Indian diaspora in the UAE. The Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium
, established by Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, hosted several India—Pakistan matches and triangular tournaments through the 1980s and 1990s, which attracted Indian and Pakistani cricket spectators from the UAE as well as from India and Pakistan. More recently, the state-of-the-art Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium
in Abu Dhabi has hosted bilateral and triangular cricket tournaments featuring India and Pakistan.
Bollywood
, Tollywood and Malayalam cinema
are popular among Indian expatriates and are shown in most major theatres in the Emirates' main cities. Award ceremonies such as the International Indian Film Academy Awards as well as Filmfare Awards
have previously been held in Dubai; the city is also a popular destination for filming Bollywood movies. The importation of Indian movies into the UAE had already reached in 1991.
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
. Over a million India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n migrants are estimated to be living in the UAE (2000), who form over 40% of the total population of the UAE. A majority of Indians live in the three largest cities of the UAE — Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
and Sharjah
Sharjah (city)
Sharjah is the third largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates. It is located along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula.Sharjah is the seat of government of the emirate of Sharjah...
. Indian contact with the emirates that now constitute the UAE dates back several centuries, as a result of trade and commerce between the emirates and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. More recently, the UAE has experienced a tremendous increase in the population of Indians who, having migrated to the country as a result of opportunities in petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
, construction and other industries, far outnumber the population of local emiratis. While most Indian migrants support the manufacturing and transport industries, a sizable minority of migrants are involved in professional services and entrepreneurship. Relations between India and the UAE have traditionally been friendly, though recent incidents relating to the treatment of the Indian migrant labour force by companies in the UAE have been the source of friction between the two nations.
History
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
has had a long established economic and political link with India. Trucial Oman (now UAE
Emirates of the United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates is composed of 7 emirates :-References:...
), was nominally independent in the 19th century but was administered by the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
; trade and banking sectors in the territory were administered by the Khoja
Khoja
The Khojas are ethnic group of Shia Muslims. The word Khoja derives from Khwaja, a Persian title .In Pakistan, many Khojas migrated to and settled in the province of Sindh and especially in the city of Karachi. While in India, most Khojas live in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and...
and Kutchi
Kutchi people
The Kutchi people traditionally reside in the Kutch region of the northwestern Indian state of Gujarat and in the Sindh province of Pakistan...
communities of India. In 1853, the rulers of the emirates signed a Perpetual Maritime Truce with the British, effectively bringing the region under Britain's sphere of influence. Administered from British India, the emirates developed commonalities with South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
. Indian Rupee
Indian rupee
The Indian rupee is the official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India....
s were used as currency, as were Indian stamps (overlaid with the name of the emirate) for postal correspondence. A fairly homogeneous society at the turn of the 20th century, the region that now comprises the UAE experienced an economic boom as a result of the pearling
Pearling
Pearling may refer to:* Pearl hunting, the practice of diving for pearls* Pearling , a form of genital beading...
industry; the few Indian traders emigrating to the emirates moved to the coastal towns and remained on the fringes of Emirati society. Dubai had traditionally served as an entrepôt
Entrepôt
An entrepôt is a trading post where merchandise can be imported and exported without paying import duties, often at a profit. This profit is possible because of trade conditions, for example, the reluctance of ships to travel the entire length of a long trading route, and selling to the entrepôt...
for trade between the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
and was dominated by Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
merchants in both gold and textile trade. Dubai was also an important trading post for Indians prior to the discovery of oil (in commercial quantities) in the UAE in 1959; the emirate had been at the centre of a smuggling route of gold to India via small boats, where the importation of gold was illegal.
The discovery of oil brought with it an influx of workers from India in the 1960s. Many came via sea, a trip of about three days from Bombay (now Mumbai) to Dubai. Most of the shopkeepers were from the state of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, or were Indian Arabs, descendants of Arabs who had previously emigrated to India. It was also in the late 1960s that the Hindu Temple
Hindu Temple, Dubai
Hindu Temple, Dubai is a temple complex in Dubai, United Arab Emirates . The temple caters to the large Hindu community in the United Arab Emirates and is the only Hindu temple in that country...
and first Indian schools were built for expatriate Indian families. Indian migration to the UAE drastically increased in the 1970s and 1980s, with the expansion of the oil industry and the growth of free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
in Dubai. Annual migration of Indians to the UAE, which stood at 4,600 in 1975, rose to over 125,000 by 1985, and stood at nearly 200,000 in 1999.
Demographics
By 1999, the population of Indian migrants in the UAE, which stood at 170,000 in 1975, was at 750,000. The estimated population of Indians in the UAE as of 2009 is near 2 million. Indian constitutes 35 % of total UAE population of 6 million (more than local UAE national, who are only 20% of total population!). More than half of people lot in UAE knows or understands Hindi/Urdu comprising South Asian, Some local and expitriate Arab and some Iranian. A majority of Indians in the UAE (approximately 35%) are from the southernSouth India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
state of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, followed by migrants from Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, Gujarat and Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
. The majority of Indians were Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s (56%), followed by Christian
Christianity in India
Christianity is India's third-largest religion, with approximately 24 million followers, constituting 2.3% of India's population. The works of scholars and Eastern Christian writings and 14th century Portuguese missionaries created an illusion to convert Indians that Christianity was introduced to...
s (26%) and Hindu
Hinduism in India
Hinduism is a religious tradition of India, with 80.5% of the population identifying themselves as Hindus. The vast majority of Hindus in India belong to Vaishnavite and Shaivite denominations.The Vedic culture originated in India between 2000 and 1500 BC...
s (16%). Naturalisation and citizenship
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
laws in the UAE effectively make it impossible for a path to permanent residency or citizenship. A vast majority of Indian migrants are on employment based visa
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
s, while others are on business or trade visas. Approximately 26% of Indian migrants live in apartments or villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
s in the large cities of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, while 15% live in rented rooms in cities. The remaining migrants (about one-third) live in collective labour accommodations (referred to as labour camps), such as those in Mussafah (Abu Dhabi) or Sonapur (Dubai). Approximately 88% of those living in collective labour accommodations live in rooms with an average occupancy ranging from four to eight. Recently, Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
criticised the labour accommodations, calling the living conditions less than human.
In addition, over 300,000 undocumented migrants, many of whom are Indian, are said to be living in the UAE. Undocumented migrants, if caught, are jailed and then deported to their home countries. A federal law enacted in 1996 in the UAE imposed sanctions against undocumented migrants and their employers. The UAE government offers amnesty
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
programs where foreign undocumented workers can voluntarily leave the country without facing imprisonment or having to pay fines. One such three month amnesty program in 2007 benefitted 110,000 illegal Indian migrants, all of whom were either legally reabsorbed into the UAE workforce or allowed to return to India without sanctions or imprisonment.
Economic contribution
Foreigners constitute 99% of the UAE's labour force, of which Indians are a sizable majority. In addition to employment-based migrants from India, many Indian entrepreneurs in the UAE have established successful national franchises such as JashanmalJashanmal
The Jashanmal Group is a wholesale distributor of consumer goods and services in the Gulf region. The company, established in 1919 by Rao Sahib Jashanmal with its first store in Basra, Iraq as a general store selling many of the products that are still sold in the stores today...
, Jumbo Electronics, Choitram's, the Varkey Group, Alukkas
Joy Alukkas
Joy Alukkas is an Indian entrepreneur from Thrissur City in Kerala state of India. He is the Managing Director of Joyalukkas India Limited and Chairman of Joyalukkas Jewellery LLC, Dubai, a gold and diamond retail jewellery chain....
, Lal's and New Medical Center
New Medical Center
New Medical Centre is a healthcare chain in the United Arab Emirates . NMC is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, and has branch hospitals in Dubai and Sharjah and Al Ain....
. By 1996, at least 150 Indian companies were operating in the Jebel Ali Free Zone
Jebel Ali Free Zone
Jebel Ali Free Zone is a free economic zone located in the Jebel Ali area at the far western end of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, near Abu Dhabi...
(JAFZ), and even today, more than 50% of work force are Indian only in one of the most successful and role model Free Trade Zone of world. Over 35% of Indian workers in the UAE were engaged in manufacturing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
, transport and related professions, while 20% were engaged in professional and technical fields. A study conducted in 2004 found the median
Median
In probability theory and statistics, a median is described as the numerical value separating the higher half of a sample, a population, or a probability distribution, from the lower half. The median of a finite list of numbers can be found by arranging all the observations from lowest value to...
salary range of Indian migrants to be between Dh
United Arab Emirates dirham
The dirham is the currency of the United Arab Emirates. The ISO 4217 code for the United Arab Emirates dirham is AED. Unofficial abbreviations include DH or Dhs. The dirham is subdivided into 100 ....
1,001—1,500 (between US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
270—408) per month (or US$ 3,240—4,896 per year), considerably below the national per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
of US$ 55,200. Only 9% of those surveyed earned a salary of Dh 5,000 (US$ 1,360) or more per month. However, a 2005 Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
report estimated that there were approximately 33,000 Indian millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
s living in the UAE. Indian works typically save most of their earnings through employment benefits on accommodation and transport, and income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
free provisions of the UAE. As a result, a majority of the money is remitted for the maintenance of migrants' households in India. In 2005, an estimated US$ 7 billion was remitted, about half of which was sent through informal hawala
Hawala
Hawala is an informal value transfer system based on the performance and honor of a huge network of money brokers, which are primarily located in the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and South Asia...
channels. About 70% of all remittances from the UAE (or US$ 5 billion) was sent to India, with 60% alone being remitted to Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
.
A small number of Indian migrants have been involved in criminal activities in the Middle East, including smuggling
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
, trade in narcotics, extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
s and other activities. Dubai, in particular, has been associated with the smuggling of gold, precious metals and electronics. Dawood Ibrahim
Dawood Ibrahim
Dawood Ibrahim , also known as Dawood Ebrahim, and Sheikh Dawood Hassan, is the head of the organized crime syndicate [[D-Company]] in Mumbai. He is currently on the wanted list of Interpol for organised crime and counterfeiting. He was No. 4 on the Forbes' World's Top 10 most dreaded criminals...
, head of the organised crime syndicate D-Company
D-Company
D-Company is a term coined by the media for the criminal organization and terrorist group headed by wanted terrorist leader and crime boss Dawood Ibrahim....
, is estimated to have smuggled 20 to 30 tons of gold to India annually. On January 19, 2003, Sharad Shetty
Sharad Shetty
Sharad Shetty was an Indian mobster based in Dubai. He was one of Dawood Ibrahim’s top aides and was known to control most of the cricket betting racket in the Indian sub-continent. He belonged to the powerful Bunt community of South Canara district of Karnataka. Sharad Shetty was shot dead at The...
, one of Dawood Ibrahim's associates who controlled a vast cricket betting
Betting controversies in cricket
Cricket has had a number of controversies relating to players being involved with the betting aspects of the game. In particular, numerous players have been approached by bookmakers and bribed to, throw matches, aspects of matches Cricket has had a number of controversies relating to players being...
empire was shot dead by rival gangmembers while entering the India Club in Oud Metha, Dubai.
Indo-Emirati relations
India and the UAE have generally enjoyed cordial relations, partly due to their shared history with the British presence in AsiaAsia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, and partly due to the pre-colonial history of trade, commerce and settlement between the two nations. In 1999, the UAE government secured the release of 25 civilian passengers on board Indian Airlines flight IC-814 that had been hijacked
Indian Airlines Flight 814
Indian Airlines Flight 814 commonly known as IC 814 was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 en route from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India on Friday, December 24, 1999, when it was hijacked...
and forced to land in Dubai en route to New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
from Katmandu, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. However, several incidents, mainly concerning India's expatriate workforce in the UAE, have caused friction in Indo-Emirati relations. Indian consuls are consulted over disputes over wages and working conditions. On March 21, 2006, construction workers, many of whom were Indian, rioted at the construction site of Burj Khalifa, upset over bus timings, poor wages and living conditions.
Culture
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
Indians in the UAE have established a network of cultural associations which cater to their needs. Cultural associations such as the India Club, Indian Association, Goan Cultural Society and numerous Keralite associations support cultural networks of the Indian sub-communities in the UAE. Additionally, schools such as the Abu Dhabi Indian School
Abu Dhabi Indian School
Abu Dhabi Indian School is one of the largest private school offering Indian curriculum education in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The School is managed by a Honorary Board of Governors, with the head chairman being Dr. B R Shetty...
and The Indian High School, Dubai
The Indian High School, Dubai
The Indian High School is the first expatriate educational institution to be established in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 1957 at which point it was called Bharatiya Vidyalaya by Hemalaka Behn...
provide Indian curricular education to expatriate students. Dubai is the only emirate in the UAE with a Hindu temple
Hindu Temple, Dubai
Hindu Temple, Dubai is a temple complex in Dubai, United Arab Emirates . The temple caters to the large Hindu community in the United Arab Emirates and is the only Hindu temple in that country...
and Sikh Gurudwara. Non-Muslims are allowed to conduct their religious ceremonies in their private homes without interference. Dubai and Sharjah are the only emirates with operating cremation
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
facilities in the Emirates. Official permission must be obtained for their use in every instance. Churches exist in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah. In 1998, the government of Dubai donated land for the construction of a facility to be shared by five congregations, four Protestant and one Catholic
Roman Catholicism in the United Arab Emirates
The Roman Catholic Church in the United Arab Emirates is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome....
. Non-Muslims may practice their religions but may not proselytise publicly.
Restaurants serving Indian food are very popular and widely available in the Emirates. Many of the hotels in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have Indian restaurants that serve Mughlai or Tandoor
Tandoor
A tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven used in cooking and baking. The tandoor is used for cooking in Azerbaijan, India, Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Central Asia, as well as Burma and Bangladesh.The heat for a tandoor was...
cuisine, while vegetarian South Indian
South Indian cuisine
South Indian Cuisine is a term used to refer to the cuisines found in the four southern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.-Similarities and differences in "Four states' cuisines":...
and Udupi cuisine
Udupi cuisine
Udupi cuisine is a world-renowned cuisine of South India. It forms an important part of the Cuisine of Karnataka and takes its name from Udupi, a town on the southwest coast of India in the state of Karnataka. The Udupi cuisine has its origin in the Ashta mathas of Udupi founded by...
are widely available and popular in the larger cities of the UAE. India-Pakistan cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
matches are widely followed by the Indian diaspora in the UAE. The Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium
Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium
The Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium is in the emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. It was originally constructed in the early 1980s and has been much improved over the years...
, established by Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, hosted several India—Pakistan matches and triangular tournaments through the 1980s and 1990s, which attracted Indian and Pakistani cricket spectators from the UAE as well as from India and Pakistan. More recently, the state-of-the-art Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium
Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium
The Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi Arabic ملعب الكريكيت الشيخ زايد cost $22 million to build and is arguably one of the world's finest cricket grounds...
in Abu Dhabi has hosted bilateral and triangular cricket tournaments featuring India and Pakistan.
Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
, Tollywood and Malayalam cinema
Malayalam cinema
The Cinema of Kerala or Malayalam cinema refers to the film industry in the Indian state of Kerala, which makes films in the Malayalam language. Malayalam movies typically portray social or family issues and are considered more realistic than films from other parts of India. Malayalam cinema has...
are popular among Indian expatriates and are shown in most major theatres in the Emirates' main cities. Award ceremonies such as the International Indian Film Academy Awards as well as Filmfare Awards
Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are presented annually by The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film industry of India. The Filmfare ceremony is one of the oldest and most prominent film events given for Hindi films in India. The awards were...
have previously been held in Dubai; the city is also a popular destination for filming Bollywood movies. The importation of Indian movies into the UAE had already reached in 1991.
See also
- Bangladeshis in the United Arab Emirates
- Pakistanis in the United Arab EmiratesPakistanis in the United Arab EmiratesPakistanis in the United Arab Emirates constitute a population of 1.2 million - only second to the largest migrant population of Indians. The majority are found in Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively, while a significant population is spread out in Sharjah and the remaining Northern Emirates...
- Sri Lankans in the United Arab Emirates