I lived in that part of the world for a few years. It’s even worse than you describe it. Along with signing contracts, the workers are required to hand over their passports to their employers, so if they’re trying to escape a rapist boss or are forced into debt slavery, they can’t escape.

If they ever do the Olympics in the UAE, maid-rape will be a demonstration sport.

The working hours are very long, they pay is shit, and the working conditions abusive.

Along with the Indians and Filipinos, there are lots of Egyptians and Eritreans in low-paid jobs. You’ll find Lebanese, Palestinians and other Levantines in middle management: their living and working conditions are much less horrendous. The local Gulfies and Saudis are seldom seen doing any real work, they’re just rentiers who come into the office occasionally to remind everyone else who owns the place.

In Saudi Arabia, there are (relatively) poor Saudis, but they get government money, trucks, medical care, education and housing and generally don’t do any real work. I’d occasionally run into Saudi Bedouins running cafes or small farms, or trading commodities like spices. They were generally good people, unlike the urban parasitic layabouts.