Communications and Media

The decrepit living standards of the migrant workers in Dubai are horrific. The labour camps are equivalent to slums evoking the utmost disgust in their stark unhygienic states. The campaign requires a name that draws the mind to these conditions. For political correctness, slavery is too strong a word and carries with it a distinct history that has long been elicited to the point of drawing contempt from the masses thereby diluting the aim of the campaign. In choosing this title we bring the mind to the inhumane conditions that workers have to endure not only in their living standards but also in their restrictions on movement and community.

Our Aim Increasing global awareness on the plight of immigrant labourers in Dubai
The global village is increasingly becoming a powerful tool with which certain changes may be forced upon states and multi-national companies. Dubai is increasingly becoming a preferred long-haul destination for many European tourists and therefore its image and brand is very important for the Emirates. Since this is increasingly so we can begin to systematically expose the ills that plague the majority of lowly paid labourers to these various markets in a bid to influence their perception of Dubai. This can become a smoke screen on the Dubai administration that allows the changes in regulation on the employers in Dubai to begin taking place.

Our Purpose Appealing to the Sympathies of the Global Village
The main objective of this campaign is to appeal to the sympathies of the Global Village. In recent times the travails of sweat shop workers in Asia has come to receive Global attention due to a sustained effort by NGOs and media companies in launching extensive campaigns on the plight of these workers. Our campaign is the voice of these workers. We desire to bring out the suffering and situations that these workers have to contend with. This is a war campaign directed at the perpetrators of the vile conditions that workers in Dubai have to contend with. This is an information war and the campaign cannot shy away from calling it like it is. To this end the dedication to the truth of the matter is mandatory.

When the Dubai worlds venture went into bankruptcy it dominated the news for weeks on end around the world yet the more horrific tale is the human cost of Dubais advancement. This is an underreported tale and this campaign has to change this (Caplan, 2009).

Groups and people who will help
Siddharth Kara is a former investment banker turned activist and advocate for sex slaves globally. He has penned a book Sex Trafficking Inside the Business of Modern Slavery which has received global acclaim including being featured on the famous Oprah talk show. This individual, while being extremely well known in the global labour advocacy circles, is well connected in the world of business and media. He would bring an authenticity to the campaign since he has had personal experience in talking with actual sex slaves and has personally visited the numerous small cramped rooms that universally house slaves of all kinds globally.

He has also travelled to the villages around Asia and other parts of the world where many slaves are lured, captured or coerced from into the dark world of human trafficking that is slavery. Using him in the campaign sheds light to the more subtle issues and brings everyone who comes into contact with the campaign closer to a deeper understanding of the issue. The campaign would also benefit from those who would pick up his book and learn much more about this ill including practical ways in which they can help in their own nations.

Siddharth Khan works in conjunction with Free the Slaves, a non-profit organization whose goal is to end slavery in the whole world. This is one of the organizations that the campaign will rely on. We will focus on their grass root efforts as well as their global programs in a bid to bringing the story that is the struggle to end exploitation in labour. Dubai has more than 300,000 female domestic workers who face abuse daily from their enslaving agencies and even from some employers. Their plight is real and not a mirage. Free the Slaves will assist in setting the tone of this campaign in a global context.

The Somaly Mam Foundation is a non-profit organization that sources to funding for nonprofits working to end exploitation and slavery globally. The foundation is named after Somaly Mam who was once sold into slavery and triumphed over this heinous crime to become a global activist for slavery and through her non-profit organization managed to begin changing lives of slaves and setting them on the path to economic freedom. She is a shining light of hope for many who are enslaved and would bring out the triumphant tale that many slaves can live out by fighting for freedom.
Working with the Somaly Mam Foundation and Somaly Mam herself we can gain assistance to galvanize the global attention that they garner in to the issue of Dubais underreported and unresolved exploitation of more than 10 million migrant workers in all forms on bondage.

Target audience
Our target audience will be first and foremost the more than 1 billion people online from Europe, North America and Asia. The Internet is a very powerful media tool through which we can create global awareness at a fraction of the cost of using television and radio. Through our prominent allies in Siddhart Khan and Somaly Mam we can also bring focus on the campaign from the prominent forums that they attend which would assist us in gaining mention in the numerous newspapers and networks that may be present at these forums where these personalities are invited to share their views on the pervasive issue that is global slavery.

Dubai is an increasingly progressing society. More than 95 of its population are foreign mainly drawn from Europe and Asia. More specifically, those who are amongst the more affluent of migrant workers who populate the professions are from European nations where slavery is not condoned. These individuals can be our advocates. All we need to do is to position our campaign in their reach. Therefore the people online from Dubai are very significant in this target audience. It is going to be increasingly difficult for the perpetrators of unfair labour practices to function in Dubai as majority of the people do not subscribe to this ideology of exploitation, especially the increasingly sensitive foreign expatriates.

We also plan to target the TV viewing audience. From both the Internet and television viewers we plan to target the 18-35 year old demographic as they are the ones who are increasingly responsive to participate in issues that are to change the collective futures of the world of which they are key stakeholder in their respective nations. Through various means such as a documentary we can target these individuals through their respective local networks and the Internet TV that is YouTube.

Tact and campaign strategy
March 25th is designated as the annual International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. On this day globally, a brief moment of attention is brought to the plight of Dubai labourers and that of other globally who are in indentured servitude which is modern day slavery in politically correct speech. Our campaign is centred on the launch of a docudrama that highlights the plight of Dubai labourers whilst containing undertones of the deeper subject that is human trafficking and forced labour. This docudrama will be launched online and through networks willing to cooperate in a bid to commemorate this day globally. We believe that this will visually communicate the plight of Dubai labourers globally as well as feature the deeper issues on slavery and economic exploitation at large.

Resources
In this media campaign we will extensively use the Internet. We will create a provocative web page from which a docudrama can be watched online as well as from the YouTube website on which we will place the issue of Dubais labourers in focus. We will also use TV channels and various publications that feature contemporary labour issues globally. We believe the visual nature of the campaign will bolster its authentic personalities in Siddhart Khan and Somaly Mam.