Similarly in Abu Dhabi the ruling family has spent the past decade or so colonising almost all of the emirate’s smaller outlying islands, often then building ‘sea palaces’ complete with outdoor swimming pools and extensive berthing facilities. These are now heavily defended, with most having armed patrols along their beachfronts and in some cases Patriot missile batteries discreetly installed. Some of the roads, sewerage facilities and lighting on these islands have been installed by the Abu Dhabi Municipality, despite the land now clearly being in the private hands of the ruling family. Just a few years ago most of these islands were public land, where nationals and expatriates alike could camp and hike. One particularly striking development has been on Futaisi Island, owned by a lesser member of the ruling family, Hamad bin Hamdan Al-Nahyan. Having already built a golf course and a fake fort on the island, in 2011 he began to carve his name ‘Hamad’ in giant letters into the surface of the island. Despite Futaisi being home to mangrove swamps and teeming with gazelles and other wildlife, each letter on the island is a kilometre long and deep enough to be filled with water to allow motor launches to navigate. With the whole name spanning three kilometres it is clearly visible on satellite mapping images. Even more ostentatiously, given that it will be located on the main Abu Dhabi island, is the new UAE Presidential Palace. Although being built by the UAE’s Ministry for Presidential Affairs, it will de facto become the main seat of Abu Dhabi’s ruler and crown prince, given their dominance over the federation. Spanning a secure 150 hectare site, the giant compound will contain several smaller ancillary palaces and be comparable in size to Muammar Gaddafi’s Bab al-Azizia government-cum-residential compound in Tripoli. The construction contract was awarded to a Greek company in 2007 with the value of the deal remaining secret due to a confidentiality agreement signed between the contractor and the Abu Dhabi government.[535] Nevertheless its total cost is believed to be at least $490 million.[536]
Poverty and real unemployment
Although perhaps less visible, a more immediate concern — especially for the poorer Gulf monarchies of Bahrain, Oman, and to some extent the more populous Saudi Arabia — is the now evident breakdown of their capacity to provide the most basic facilities and economic opportunities for their citizens. As well as suffering from a declining ability to keep offering subsidies and the structural problem of voluntary unemployment, these states are increasingly experiencing a widening wealth gap within their national populations, with rising involuntary or real unemployment, and in some cases even citizens living in conditions of poverty. As with the personal fortunes of the ruling families, the latter issue has been another highly sensitive, even taboo, topic of discussion in the region for many years. It has been dangerous for the Gulf monarchies to admit that there are now substantial numbers of indigent nationals in their countries after decades of hydrocarbon exports and sizeable government revenues.
In Bahrain’s case, unemployment in 2005 was thought to be as high as 15 per cent,[537] although official figures have usually been lower. In early 2011 the official unemployment rate was still less than 4 per cent[538] while independent studies in mid-2011 claimed it was about 15 per cent. Similarly in Oman, recent independent studies have estimated the rate at 15 per cent.[539] Total unemployment in Saudi Arabia, most of which is probably now involuntary, is the subject of even more speculation, with estimates ranging from 10 to 20 per cent among adult males, especially among the youth. In 2009 official statistics were produced indicating that 27 per cent of men under the age of thirty were unemployed, while employment opportunities for young women remained extremely limited.[540] Indeed, it was even reported that some Saudi women were having to work as maids in Qatar.[541] In late 2010 the Saudi minister for labour stated that 500,000 Saudi nationals were unemployed, promising a gathering at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry that ‘We are going to have to solve this unemployment problem’. At about the same time, however, fresh official figures were released indicating that unemployment had risen to 10.5 per cent, with analysts claiming that Saudi Arabia’s published aims of halving unemployment by 2014 are unrealistic and that unemployment is likely to remain high.[542]
Unsurprisingly, this is leading to increasing criticism of the government from unemployed Saudi youth or those having to take on menial jobs. At a protest held by unemployed teachers in 2010, their spokesman claimed they were ‘…surprised about the lack of opportunities despite the need for teachers but the ministry was not interested in this’, while a recent Reuters report highlighted the case of those educated Saudi nationals who can now only find work as taxi drivers, private security guards or other low-paid jobs.[543] Increasingly, complaints are being directed at expatriates rather than the government, with a now popular — although seemingly inaccurate — belief among many Saudi nationals that foreigners are being paid more than citizens and are taking jobs that used to be reserved for them. According to a Financial Times report in late 2010 some Saudi newspaper columnists and social media users were lamenting publicly the ‘…money that they believed foreigners were skimming off Saudis, portraying expatriates as wallowing in luxury while the country struggles with unemployment’. In particular one columnist claimed ‘We are not surprised. Foreigners control all retail business, grocery stores… they are given facilities and priority, killing all job prospects for Saudis… nine million foreigners are bleeding the country dry’.[544] Even in the smaller, wealthier Gulf monarchies there are signs that involuntary unemployment is rising, particularly in the UAE where there remains a great imbalance between the more developed emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and the poorer ‘northern emirates’. In Fujairah, for example, official statistics from 2009 indicated that the emirate’s unemployment rate was 20.6 per cent, well above the UAE’s national average of 14 per cent.[545] More significant is that most of the unemployed in the more developed emirates are likely to be voluntarily unemployed, while most unemployed in the northern emirate are likely to be involuntarily unemployed.
With regards poverty and poor living conditions, there is increasing evidence in Saudi Arabia of large numbers of nationals struggling to make ends meet. In a recent Financial Times report it was claimed that ‘…many young men cannot afford to marry or buy a home, raising concerns of social unrest and higher crime rates… many foreigners complain of bag-snatching or robbery at knifepoint by young Saudis, as unemployment stokes xenophobia’.[546] Meanwhile chief economists at Saudi-based banks have warned that ‘[although] the unemployment rate is not new it has become more of a political concern now. Prices are going up in very critical areas like food and housing. Purchasing power is being quickly eroded’.[547] In Bahrain the situation is believed to be much worse, with some 50,000 Bahraini nationals estimated to be on waiting lists to receive affordable housing.[548] In some cases Bahraini nationals have had to wait over twenty years before being properly housed. In a report published in 2011, for example, a fisherman’s life was used to typify the poor social conditions endured by many Bahrainis. It was claimed that he had always ‘…shared the cramped, run-down family home in Sitra with his parents, four brothers and two sisters. The four adult brothers slept in one small room. One of his sisters is married with four children, who also live in the family home’. His income was believed to be only about $210 per month, which he complained was barely enough to cover a weekly food bill. Moreover, he had stated ‘…how much he wanted to get married and start a family, but he couldn’t afford a house. Like many young Bahraini men, he couldn’t start a family because he was too poor’.[549]
547
86.