Khaleej Times met up with one such family of Pakistanis whose woes seem endless with the pressures of survival in the UAE. Nasrallah works for a shipping company in the Dubai Investment Park. Until a few months back, he and his family shared a villa in Satwa with four other families. Living with his wife and four children including a nine-month-old child, Nasrallah said, “I was given a notice by my landlord to relocate within a month as the villas are going to be demolished in Satwa. With so little time in hand, it was impossible to get an accommodation in Dubai within my budget.”

A friend came to his help. “A friend offered a small room for a few months until I find something affordable.” However he couldn’t. “After a frantic search in whole Sharjah, I found a one-bedroom flat in an area bordering Ajman. I have just shifted with my family to this flat.”

However, that is not the end of Nasrallah’s worries. “I work in Dubai and my kids go to school there as well. Now that we have shifted to Sharjah, we spend most of our time travelling. I have to travel almost 75-80 km daily. With the traffic scenario in Sharjah, it is agonising.” Nasrallah said frequent relocation has taken a toll on his children’ health. “My children leave home at 5.20am and get back only by 3pm. When we were in Satwa, the school was only half-an-hour’s drive from home.”

He added his children have been very upset about the situation, which has also affected their health badly. Since most of his business activities are in Dubai, Nasrallah has to travel to and fro. “My health card is from Dubai. When my youngest child needs vaccination or falls sick, I need to rush to Dubai, wasting time commuting.”

Reminiscing about the days n 1987, he recalled a high standard of living in Al Gusais when Dh200-300 was their monthly expense. “Rents were affordable, cost of living was low and life was easy,” he said.

Once the going got tough, Nasrallah sent his family back to Pakistan but then decided his children needed to be educated in a progressive environment. “The only reason my family is with me is because I want my children to be educated here rather than in Pakistan. But if it gets too difficult to make ends meet, I may have to send them back again.”

Nasrallah is glad that his company increased his salary a few months back but says it has provided only a slight relief. “I think the company should ease the troubles of low-income workers. Either they should provide accommodation close to the office or an allowance matching the rent rates in Dubai. At present, the company has a grading system and those who fall in the low grade are not given accommodation.”

What keeps Nasrallah strong in these turbulent times is the support of his family. “My wife is very understanding and she tries to economise at every step. It is true that it would be easier to save with the low exchange rates if I send them back home, but they are my strength and it is very important that my children get educated in Dubai.”