Al Ain Oasis and Andrew (2)

Al Ain Oasis (1)


When I started work in Al Ain, I was warned of Andrew’s near escape from the Oasis the year before I arrived, and that, should I venture into the Oasis without a large crowd of Westerners for protection, I would never emerge unscathed, if I emerged at all.

Andrew was no longer present at the company, so I couldn't get his version of what had actually happened. Only Andrew and I had dared to venture out alone without a crowd of Westerners for protection (and then told anyone about it); all the rest of the Westerners working for the company remained inside the Western compounds or the workplace, where all the Orientals were quite tame. (By Oriental, I mean anyone from east of the Hellespont.) Both Andrew and I were informed after six months that our contracts would not be renewed, because we did not fit in, Andrew having received his notice one year to the day before I received mine. Each year, about 1/3 of the new hires received such a notice.

The year Andrew was employed, shortly after the notices came out of who would be terminated at the end of the year, the Director ordered everyone to work 5 weekends so that they could have a week’s leave. Andrew had booked a non-refundable vacation for that week. Then the Director announced that the week’s leave was cancelled, and anyone who did not report for during that week work would be dismissed.

Andrew did not appear that week until Friday (the weekend in the UAE), when he confided to the Director’s spy that he had spent a delightful week in Thailand. (Obviously, he didn’t realize that he was bragging to a spy.) On Saturday (the first day of the week in the UAE), Andrew arrived back at work and said he had been too ill to report to work. Normally, this excuse would have been accepted, but this time his supervisor told him he was dismissed, and would be deported in a few days, giving him just time to pack.

Andrew went to the bank, and found his account closed. Western employees were given a sign-on bonus of about £5,500, but, should they quit or be dismissed for cause, this had to be repaid. Andrew’s bank balance was less than £5,500, so the company not only took all the money; they confiscated all the furniture in his villa and sold it. Andrew was sent home with only the sum that was in his pocket when he returned from Thailand, and any cash he might have had stashed away in his flat.

I got this story (and the warning never to go outside the Western compounds except in the company of a large group of other Westerners) from the Director’s spy, and from several others. I believe most of it: Andrew’s trip to Thailand, the dismissal for cause, and the deportation with nothing but the cash in his pockets, but I wasn’t there. About the dangers of the Oasis, I found all those I had been warned about to be quite baseless.

But I probably shouldn't have said this to the Director's spy.