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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Meant to be moving to Dubai in 4 weeks

967 replies

Medesres · 01/03/2026 15:42

We've been planning a move to Dubai for a while now. Dh's work has an office out there and it seemed like great opportunity to live abroad and experience sth different. I've got a couple of friends out there already too who love the lifestyle.

Watching the news for the past 24 hours and I'm really starting to question things. I had no idea how close to Iran it was and who knows what might happen next. Part of me is hoping it will all be resolved soon but hard to believe.

My friend who already lives there has spent the night sleeping in one room with her dh and kids scared of all the missile noises.

OP posts:
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FloofBunny · 02/03/2026 11:07

Jerys · 02/03/2026 11:03

I then gave the polygamy example. GCC allow it, we don't. We expect those moving here to follow our laws. We can follow the laws in the GCC.

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Doesn't matter. You're a BadPersonTM now!

Jerys · 02/03/2026 11:03

FloofBunny · 02/03/2026 10:57

She wasn't equating the two at all. You're just bullying her.

@Jerys I'd give up if I were you. You were open-minded enough to try it there and you had the temerity to enjoy the positive things that Dubai has to offer. You are now officially designated a BadPersonTM in the Mumsnet wokerati. I am also a BadPersonTM because I would go to Dubai despite its problems. Join the club!

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I then gave the polygamy example. GCC allow it, we don't. We expect those moving here to follow our laws. We can follow the laws in the GCC.

Paganpentacle · 02/03/2026 10:59

Sorry but what now?
You were planning moving there but didn't realise how close to Iran it is??
Do people not do basic checks ???

ChrisMartinsKisskam · 02/03/2026 10:59

To be fair I’ve been to Dubai many many times also been to Bahrain several times and I had no idea it was that close to Iran 😂 and checked on a map when I read the OP post

So the OP isn’t the only one who’s crap at Geography

I do know that Turkey is next to Syria and that Saudi is next to Bahrain

do I get any points for knowing that

FloofBunny · 02/03/2026 10:57

Wellthisisdifficult · 01/03/2026 20:08

Looks that way to me!!!

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She wasn't equating the two at all. You're just bullying her.

@Jerys I'd give up if I were you. You were open-minded enough to try it there and you had the temerity to enjoy the positive things that Dubai has to offer. You are now officially designated a BadPersonTM in the Mumsnet wokerati. I am also a BadPersonTM because I would go to Dubai despite its problems. Join the club!

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 02/03/2026 10:37

Cardomomle · 02/03/2026 09:23

Why not?

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Too dim

Autumngirl5 · 02/03/2026 10:33

sunshine244 · 02/03/2026 07:52

But Dubai is the very opposite of culture and history. People go there specifically for the hotels and shopping malls etc.

My neighbours went for a weeks holiday last year and considering moving there. No mention of anything in any way cultural. They like the swimming pools, the shops, the cheap luxury goods, that they would be able to afford housekeeper and nanny etc. They didn't go outside at all because it was too hot. They could have been anywhere.

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It always sounds so weird to me. I wouldn’t go even without the bombing. But then I love nature and natural things but each to their own. Still don’t think the OP is real!

Ginmonkeyagain · 02/03/2026 10:31

@FloofBunny yeah well Dubai sells itself as a lot of things - doesn't mean it is true does it?

It is right in the firing line for a proxy war between Iran/Hezbollah and the US/Israel. It has been that case for years. anyone who did not realise that before moving there is a bit dim.

Crikeyalmighty · 02/03/2026 09:36

@Katypp in all fairness I have said why it’s not for me, and I hated the intensely hot weather when we went and it was only May but was still hotter than Greece in August and I had awful aches and pains from constant aircon, I don’t like malls , the old bit was completely underwhelming, it felt very ‘Americanised’ but plenty of other places in the world i do like - certainly don’t think uk is the be all and end all - I do accept that it will suit some people, however you do need to do some research and see if it suits you and your family - not just look at the weather and the fact you might be able to afford a bit of underpaid ‘paid’ help. I also think in all honesty a big part of it also depends on what your life is like at home and where you live. Itsall very well me saying I would hate it but then I live in Bath, like European city’s , can go to nice places in Med every summer for 10 days - if I was stuck in my original midlands mining home town which has totally gone to shit - yep I could probably see the attraction.- if I lived in London in a pleasant bit - nope I wouldn’t see the attraction etc . What I will say is it wasn’t cheap, in fact really expensive, you will need that tax free income - to give you an example even 14 years ago those beach club Friday brunches which seem lovely and flash were around £60 each . - without booze!’

Whatkindoffuckeryisthiss · 02/03/2026 09:36

Katypp · 02/03/2026 09:23

Yes i think we have established that 28 pages in!

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Apologies for having a life outside of the internet.

maudelovesharold · 02/03/2026 09:31

MikeRafone · 02/03/2026 07:58

I have met a few people that have lived in Dubai, all of them intelligent enough to make a lot of money - so certainly not dim, if thats what you are inferring.

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Not neccesarily dim….crass, maybe?

BlimeyOReillyO · 02/03/2026 09:29

Katypp · 02/03/2026 08:52

No, lots more have used this as an opportunity to parade their competitive morality, political and geographical intellgience and imply the OP is empty-headed and swayed by influencers.
No many have juat said she should have researched the area (which clearly she knows now) without a side helping of why they would NEVER move there as they are better than the OP.

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I don’t think they’re wrong with their analogy of OP, I mean she was swayed by influencers and she didn’t even research the area.

And OP saying everyone wants to live there is going to get people pointing out they don’t! I mean what a stupid thing to say….. it’s like “you’re just upset you can’t live there”, no, we aren’t and for all the reasons listed!

FloofBunny · 02/03/2026 09:29

TheGoddessFrigg · 02/03/2026 09:06

This whole thread is full of people who would have travelled to apartheid South Africa- for the lovely weather. And called protestors 'halo-polishers'

I would have gone there, as part of experiencing the world, and to see the wildlife. Not for the lovely weather. I think experiencing apartheid would have been a kind of education in itself. A horrifying one, for sure, but eyewitnesses to history are important. You can speak with more authority and more convincingly about something if you have seen it with your own eyes, instead of just reading about it in the newspapers from half a world away. Visiting vastly different cultures forces you out of your comfort zone. I can't help but observe that not engaging with places you have a moral objection to leads to a narrower set of experiences.

Jerys · 02/03/2026 09:29

The US Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report (2025) says UAE courts convicted 58 traffickers, including 31 for labour trafficking (and others for sex trafficking and “selling”).

So progress is being made.... yet people go "oh no, human rights"

Katypp · 02/03/2026 09:27

Cardomomle · 02/03/2026 09:23

Why not?

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Because EVERYONE who wants to move tk Dubai is stupid, according to the many, many posters who have replied to the OP's post explaining why they are better people.

Princejoffyjaffur · 02/03/2026 09:25

I wouldn't go but I hate the place anyway

Katypp · 02/03/2026 09:23

Whatkindoffuckeryisthiss · 02/03/2026 09:18

I can very much assure you that not everyone wants to move there.

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Yes i think we have established that 28 pages in!

Cardomomle · 02/03/2026 09:23

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 02/03/2026 09:17

Which they wouldn’t use for this.

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Why not?

Whatkindoffuckeryisthiss · 02/03/2026 09:18

Medesres · 01/03/2026 15:53

I knew it was in middle east Gulf and obviously Iran is in that area too but I hadn't studied the map in great detail until today.

The problem is Dubai and parts of the middle east have been really glamorised now so everyone wants to move there. Then something like this happens and you get a reality check

Dh going to speak to his work tomorrow. I'm sure they wouldn't send him if it escalates

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I can very much assure you that not everyone wants to move there.

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 02/03/2026 09:17

Cardomomle · 02/03/2026 09:16

I bet they have Google

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Which they wouldn’t use for this.

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 02/03/2026 09:17

FloofBunny · 02/03/2026 09:16

How am I ignorant?

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You just seem it based on your posts here.

FloofBunny · 02/03/2026 09:16

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 02/03/2026 09:15

Do you feel good now for being so ignorant?

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How am I ignorant?

Cardomomle · 02/03/2026 09:16

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 02/03/2026 09:15

I bet lots of families don’t have an atlas or globe.

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I bet they have Google

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 02/03/2026 09:15

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 02/03/2026 09:13

I don’t know exactly how close it is however given I do know it’s a pretty unstable region on a good day, you can bet your arse that if I was uprooting my life and that of my kids I would get an atlas out pretty quickly and look. Not just check out what monuments nearby would look good on Insta …

Its that ignorance that so many posters are astounded at.

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I bet lots of families don’t have an atlas or globe.

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 02/03/2026 09:15

FloofBunny · 02/03/2026 08:53

That's MEAN! Do you feel good now?

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Do you feel good now for being so ignorant?

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