Ramadan a boon for Dubai's Asian workers

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2007

DUBAI (AFP) — Underpaid and underfed all year, Asian workers in Dubai, as in the rest of the United Arab Emirates, get a chance to eat their fill -- and for free -- during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

As the call to prayer goes out at dusk from a mosque in an upmarket district to signal the end of the fast, hundreds of mostly south Asian men gather nearby to savour a meal offered by charities or philanthropists.

Seated on the ground in makeshift tents, construction labourers in blue jumpsuits, gardeners, cab drivers and even technicians plunge into platters of chicken and rice after first breaking the daily fast with the traditional dates and milk.

Mineral water or juice, and an orange or an apple, round up the "iftar" served on carpets strewn across...