As virus mutes Dubai nightlife, Filipino bands feel the pain

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Sweaty throngs of fellow Filipinos Arab businessmen and mall employees fresh from their shifts would hit the dance floor as he belted out Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” with his nine-piece Filipino band. “Agents promise you heaven and give you hell,” said AJ Zacarias, a singer-keyboardist and president of the UAE’s Filipino Bands Alliance, an advocacy group. “We’re some of the world’s most sought-after artists, and they treat us like garbage here.” British vocalists can earn close to what Filipinos make in a month, Zacarias said. The UAE’s Filipino Bands Alliance said some 80% of Filipino artists have had their visas canceled by their employers, a consequence of the UAE’s “kafala” labor system that links expatriates’ residency to their jobs.