Cameron Sinclair: The refugees of boom-and-bust

Translator: Morten Kelder Skouboe Reviewer: Jonas Tholstrup Christensen

A few years ago, my eyes were opened

For et par år siden fik jeg øjnene op for

to the dark side of the construction industry.

byggeindustriens mørke side.

In 2006, young Qatari students

I 2006 tog unge qatarske studerende

took me to go and see the migrant worker camps.

mig hen for at se vandrearbejderlejrene.

And since then I've followed the unfolding issue of worker rights.

Og siden da har jeg fulgt arbejderrettighedernes udvikling.

In the last six months, more than 300 skyscrapers

I de sidste seks måneder er flere end 300 skyskrabere

in the UAE have been put on hold or canceled.

i UAE (Arabiske Emirater) blevet sat i bero eller annulleret.

Behind the headlines that lay behind these buildings

Bag overskrifterne, der ligger bag disse bygninger,

is the fate of the often-indentured construction worker.

er kontrakt-bygningsarbejderens skæbne.

1.1 million of them.

1,1 million af dem.

Mainly Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan

Hovedsagligt indere, pakistanere, sri lankanere

and Nepalese, these laborers risk everything

og nepalesere, disse arbejdere risikerer alt

to make money for their families back home.

for at tjene penge til deres familier derhjemme.

They pay a middle-man thousands of dollars to be there.

De betaler en mellemmand tusindvis af dollars for at være der.

And when they arrive, they find themselves in labor camps with no water,

Og når de ankommer, befinder de sig i arbejdslejre uden vand,

no air conditioning, and their passports taken away.

aircondition og deres pas taget fra dem.

While it's easy to point the finger at local officials and higher authorities,

Mens det er let at pege fingre ad lokale embedsmænd og højere myndigheder,

99 percent of these people are hired by the private sector,

bliver 99 procent af disse hyret af den private sektor,

and so therefore we're equally, if not more, accountable.

og derfor er vi lige så, hvis ikke mere, ansvarlige.

Groups like Buildsafe UAE have emerged,

Grupper som Buildsafe UAE er opstået,

but the numbers are simply overwhelming.

men antallet er simpelthen overvældende.

In August 2008,

I august 2008

UAE public officials noted

bemærkede UAE-embedsmænd,

that 40 percent of the country's 1,098 labor camps

at 40 procent af landets 1.098 lejre

had violated minimum health and fire safety regulations.

havde overtrådt reglerne for sundhed og brandsikkerhed.

And last summer, more than 10,000 workers

Og sidste sommer protesterede flere end 10.000 arbejdere

protested for the non-payment of wages,

imod udeblivelsen af løn,

for the poor quality of food, and inadequate housing.

dårlig mad og upassende husning.

And then the financial collapse happened.

Og så kom det finansielle kollaps.

When the contractors have gone bust,

Da arbejdsgiverne er gået ned,

as they've been overleveraged like everyone else,

fordi de har været overbelånt som alle andre,

the difference is everything goes missing,

er forskellen, at alt forsvinder,

documentation, passports,

dokumentation, pas

and tickets home for these workers.

og billetter hjem for disse arbejdere.

Currently, right now, thousands of workers are abandoned.

For tiden, lige nu, er tusindvis af arbejdere forladt.

There is no way back home.

Der er ingen vej hjem.

And there is no way, and no proof of arrival.

Og der er ingen vej og intet bevis på ankomst.

These are the boom-and-bust refugees.

Disse er konjunktur-flygtningene.

The question is, as a building professional,

Spørgsmålet er, som bygningsprofessionel,

as an architect, an engineer, as a developer,

som arkitekt, ingeniør, som udvikler,

if you know this is going on,

hvis man ved, dette foregår,

as we go to the sights every single week,

mens vi går til byggepladser hver eneste uge,

are you complacent or complicit

er man selvtilfreds eller medskyldig

in the human rights violations?

i overtrædelser af menneskerettighederne?

So let's forget your environmental footprint.

Så lad os glemme det miljømæssige aftryk.

Let's think about your ethical footprint.

Lad os tænke på det etiske aftryk.

What good is it

Hvad godt gør det

to build a zero-carbon, energy efficient complex,

at bygge et nul-kulstof, energieffektivt kompleks,

when the labor producing this architectural gem

når arbejdskraften, der laver denne arkitektoniske ædelsten,

is unethical at best?

er mere end uetisk?

Now, recently I've been told I've been taking the high road.

For nylig er jeg blevet fortalt, jeg sigter for højt.

But, quite frankly, on this issue,

Men helt ærligt, ved denne sag

there is no other road.

er der ingen anden vej.

So let's not forget who is really paying the price of this financial collapse.

Så lad os ikke glemme, hvem der virkelig betaler prisen for dette finanskollaps.

And that as we worry about our next job in the office,

Og mens vi bekymrer os om vores næste arbejde på kontoret,

the next design that we can get, to keep our workers.

det næste design, vi kan få, at beholde vores arbejdere.

Let's not forget these men, who are truly dying to work.

Lad os ikke glemme disse mænd, der vil dø for et job.

Thank you.

Tak.

(Applause)

(Bifald)