the Invisible men of Arabia

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  several remarks:

One: There are four million Indian citizens in Saudi alone, and at least a million Filipinos there, and I just read that the Indian community includes 400 thousand Keralan Christians.

Two: These Arab areas were ports for the India/Mesopotamia trade for at least 4000 years.

Three: One could argue that the idea of having a personal relationship with the Deity in Islam comes from Indian influence, although one could argue that Abraham was the one who actually was behind this idea.

Four: When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 2001, India arranged for 175,000 of their people to travel to Jordan and be airlifted back home by Air India, despite the danger of the nearby war.



finally, the recent discovery of a Filipino maid who had been murdered and hidden in a freezer is causing a diplomatic uproar here.

the irony? If it had happened in Saudi, they might have gotten away with it.

sigh.

The smaller Gulf states have a long (4000 year) history of trading, so are multicultural, and there is some freedom of religion (as long as you don't try to convert).

But Saudi? at least a million Christians and no churches.

yet this story, and the story of those working in the Middle east is rarely covered in the news.

They are indeed the invisble workers.

another note: You can tell when things get really dangerous by the number of Filipinos who evacuate.

If it is spotty and they feel safe (protected by their employers) many will stay even when the gov't offers to evacuate them.

Why? No jobs here, due to corruption.