The Middle East is very rich with a very high standard of living. A lot of those countries have no income tax and basically free medical and utilities. Much better than what Norway offers.
But, one wonders why a very rich society would need to resort to enslaving people in order to save a buck.
Also, I’m not sure how much has changed since I left that part of the world, but for decades the blue collar workers (Filipinos, Indians, Pakistanis, etc.) were considered lower tier class in rich Gulf countries. Probably easier to exploit those who one feels are less deserving.