Money....
Same with Filipinos, Pakistanis, Indians, Sri Lankans, Americans, and Europeans....
For Third Worlders like Indonesians and Filipinos. one person working in Saudi can support an entire family back home. But they are treated very badly. One surrenders one’s passport when working long-term in Saudi and is issued an ‘iqama’, i.e. a residence permit. Your employer holds your passport, and even if you get it back you have to get an exit visa in order to leave. If you’re working, let’s say, as a domestic, you are at the mercy of the male head of household. Obviously this leads to a lot of abuses.
There is a definite pecking order, Americans, Canadians, and Euros at the top, closely followed by Japanese and Koreans, then probably Indians and Pakistanis and Filipinos, then the Indonesians and Sri Lankans and Somalis etc at the bottom. The higher up the better you are treated but if you’re an infidel you’re still an infidel.
I could go on and on... how much time do you have ?! LOL.
That is exactly correct, although my view is mostly via my Filipina wife’s astonishingly large social network, which includes several ladies working in various ME countries.
There are billions of people worldwide scraping by in existences most Americans can hardly imagine: It’s one thing to see some documentary, and another for families to be IN such situations for generations, with few alternatives. Submitting to virtual slavery and abuse is often the “go-getter’s” best shot at a “solution” of sorts.
This is reminding of a Filipino friend who related how much better it was here in the US than when he lived and worked in Japan, even though he was paid well in Japan. Now, in Japan there is generally not the sort of abuse of imported workers that is seen in the ME, but, still, non-Japanese Asians, especially those from Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc., are seen as sort of 3rd class residents by most natives. By contrast, here in the US, he said (paraphrasing), “if I am a responsible person, I receive respect from, and am treated as an equal by, almost everyone.”
This is in “deplorables” / “redneck” country”, BTW. ;-)
By golly, hearing that was one of my proudest days as a US citizen!