Sonapur is a work camp on the outskirts of Dubai and far away from the luxury, soaring skyscrapers and vast wealth that the United Arab Emirates city is renowned for. Some 300,000 foreign workers who build Dubai live piled up here, in a place whose name in Hindi means “City of Gold”. They live in squalid conditions, work in searing heat for 500 dirhams a month (100$) and often cannot leave as their employers keep their passports.

One of them is Shawkat from Bangladesh. After work the 20-year-old cuts hair for small money in his "open air saloon" on the camp yard.


One of the few pleasures for the men is a round of cricket after work.

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