In all these cases, without an exception, the boys have reached the UAE after their families paid an amount... to local agents, who promised lucrative, high-paying jobs for their children abroad. The amount, in all cases, was arranged by the families through loans and mortgages. But when the boys reached UAE, they discovered that they were employed in menial jobs, where their monthly salary did not exceed Rs 14,000. Further, their monthly expenses were around Rs 8,000. They did save Rs 6,000 on an average, but the loan interest itself was Rs 10,000 to 15,000. That’s how they ended up indulging in illegal activities like bootlegging to make a quick buck7. He goes on to state that ‘turf wars’ are ‘a mundane feature of the bootlegging culture in the UAE, where the sale of alcohol is strictly controlled or regulated, especially in the dry emirate, Sharjah’; turf wars that lead to the commission of violent offences that carry the death penalty8. In another case from 2018, a non-Emirati Arab foreign national worker (nationality unclear) murdered an Asian colleague during the workers’ breakfast, after a heated row about work issues, which led to him striking his colleague on the head with a metal bar9. Another example, related to poor living conditions, involves a Bangladeshi man who was sentenced to death in 2014 after stabbing his roommate, he alleges in self-defence from sexual assault10. With regards to cases involving female defendants: an Ethiopian domestic worker was sentenced to death in 2011 for murdering her employer and her employer’s daughter; she claimed that she had been verbally abused and threatened with deportation prior to the commission of this crime11. There are also troubling reports of women sentenced to death after acting in self-defence against sexual violence. A Filipina woman, Jennifer Dalquez, was found guilty of murder and theft of a mobile phone after stabbing her employer to death in 2014, she alleges after he threatened to kill her for refusing to have sex with him12. Another Filipina woman and her Indonesian female co-worker, who were both working as domestic workers, were sentenced to death in 2017 after killing a male Indian driver who worked for the same household and had apparently been having sex with them both (it is unclear if this was ever consensual), and one night raped of the women and threatened to report her to the employer, which prompted their violent crime13. There are also cases where male defendants have allegedly acted in self-defence against sexual violence: as was the case for a male Afghan man sentenced to death in 2014 for murdering his employer14, and a Bangladeshi man 7 First Post, hEps://www.firstpost.com/india/for-indians-on-death-row-in-the-uae-reprieve-comes-from-an-nrientrepreneur-3513977.html. 8 Ibid. 9 The Na@onal UAE, hEps://www.thena@onal.ae/uae/man-given-death-penalty-aWer-killing-colleague-withiron-bar-1.792993. 10 The Na@onal UAE, hEps://www.thena@onalnews.com/uae/death-sentence-for-man-who-killed-roomate-inabu-dhabi-1.575184. 11 Gulf News, hEps://gulfnews.com/uae/crime/housemaid-to-be-executed-for-killing-sponsor-and-her-baby1.1027540. 12 Gulf News, hEps://gulfnews.com/going-out/society/mother-of-filipina-maid-sentenced-to-death-appeals-forhelp-1.1976662. 13 Gulf News, hEps://gulfnews.com/uae/crime/court-orders-killer-maids-to-be-executed-1.1970540. 14 Gulf News, hEp://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/courts/dubai-worker-sentenced-to-death-over-murder-ofwealthy-businessman-1.1345829.