Whom I met today: Oppressed Pakistani Slaves

Don't take the title lightly: the Pakistan pavilion has become a prison/deathbed for many of their people. I won't mention the name of my informant (because I fear for his safety) but what follows has been proven to me with pictures and the feeling in his voice and eyes. Every one of my coworkers and friends should pay heed to how lucky we all are.

My new friend from Pakistan is a slave in Shanghai, with no hope of redemption or freedom. He and his countrymen are resigned to work from before the Expo opens until after it closes, every single day. There are no labor laws in his country, so there is no such thing as violating them. If this were the worst part of it, it would be only slightly worse than the plight of their neighbors in the India pavilion; unfortunately, it is far from the end.

They are the only staff members I have heard about who do not get paid; that is, until they return to Pakistan in November. Upon their return, they will hopefully be paid 800 RMB for every month that they worked, which will add up to my monthly salary which I am paid one fourth of every week. But wait, it gets worse.

Imagine you had such terrible conditions, and were unable to escape! Their passports were taken from them by their boss so that, even if they had the money to leave, they would be unable to. They cannot call their friends or family, because their phones were taken from them by the same supervisor. So the obvious answer is: complain to the police. The non-caring police redirected them to the Pakistan embassy which, after they were also paid a special visit by their supervisor himself, decided that there was no problem and that the staff should behave themselves.

So let's recap: no money, no communication, no phone, no empathy, and no escape. Is that all? Alas, it is not.

What happens when 6 men are assigned to sleep in a room with no beds? Back pain and illnesses develop. When there is no sympathetic ear to complain to, illnesses go untreated and become worse. One man has developed a heart condition, which was unheeded until the supervisor prescribed some random medicine that has no effect except to worsen the problem. When at last the repeated entreaties for help broke down his resistance to allowing a hospital visit, they discovered that the man was not expected to survive, given his extreme heart degradation and abnormal condition.

Perhaps one of the lesser crimes against them, though still extremely unpleasant, is that they must share two bathrooms with 20 People!

So before you complain about having to work 40 hours per week, think about how you have the freedom to quit your job and escape oppression. Think about how there are people to complain to, laws to protect us, and at the very least, sympathetic ears to listen to their plight.