A Parallel With Dubai That Panama Must Avoid
(costaricapages.com) Natives of Dubai are facing a situation that could soon be seen in Panama. Dubai and Panama already have a lot in common as Casey Halloran pointed out in an earlier entry. Like Panama, Dubai has an ever growing population of foreigners. Though Panama is relatively welcoming to expats, Dubai is having problems with their expat population.
Dubai and Panama both have ever expanding skylines, increasing tourism rates and big assets. Both countries are also home to many people from abroad. For the most part, Panamanians and expats are living side by side with relative ease, but the recent case of two Brits found having sex on a Dubai beach has brought to the surface the challenges that city is facing with the relationship between locals and foreigners.
The CIA World Factbook states that less then 20% of the people living in the United Arab Emerates are actually citizens. Within Dubai, 90% of the residents are expats. That 10% of the local population are Muslim. They have very different values and a much different culture than the expats moving there to make a quick buck in the sun. The fact that Dubai natives are minorities is leaving some locals feeling very uncomfortable. Panama, fortunately, is no where near having such a high number of expats.
Granted, Dubai Muslims have much stricter codes of behaviour than the Panamanian Catholics that make up much of this country’s population. Women in black robes will relax on the same Dubai beach as drunken expats in bikinis. In Panama, drunk Panamanians in bikinis will relax on the same beach as drunk bikini clad expats. The fact that the culture of most expats is fairly similar to the Panamanian culture will hopefully help Panama avoid the problem with cultural differences gripping Dubai. Dubai locals now resent the ever increasing expat population.
The cultural divide in Dubai is a reminder to all foreigners living in Panama. This is not our country. We are visitors here. We should do what we can to ensure Panamanians never feel out of place in their own country.
