Yes but what I mean is, that's something that often happens there, whereas even the shittiest companies in the US and Western Europe would never ever do that, b

Yes but what I mean is, that's something that often happens there, whereas even the shittiest companies in the US and Western Europe would never ever do that, because the people/company who took your passport would go to prison or be heavily fined or both if they did. Which means the UAE is a hellhole no one should visit, because if that's a common enough problem that everyone knows about it, and it's not a problem people face elsewhere, then who knows how many other nightmares lurk beneath the surface in the UAE? It's not worth the risk for the shaky promise of some amount of money beyond your existing salary (on top of any ethical issues of economically supporting such behavior).