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Original poster

To have little sympathy for people who've moved to Dubai?

107 replies

VaxMerstappen · 01/03/2026 21:03

Firstly, let me say that say that I am not celebrating the fact that people have been killed in the latest conflict in the middle east in the slightest.

However, is anyone else struggling to empathise with all the influencers etc who for a long time have been lauding it up about how much better life is out there, and are now suddenly missing the safety and security of Blighty?

We have our problems, sure, but at least we're not in the middle of an active war zone. Nor is there much chance of us waking up to missile or drone attacks tomorrow.

It's been fairly well known for years that Dubai is a soulless hellhole with a frankly medieval attitude towards women's rights. Yet people still move there for tax reasons and then seemingly never shut up about how glad they are to have done so.

Maybe this development will make all those people realise just how relatively lucky we are to live in the UK?!

OP posts:
Dogsbarkingnotok · 01/03/2026 22:07

If you don’t naturally feel concerned and sympathetic for innocent people caught up in a dangerous situation there’s obviously something missing your end. Wild horses wouldn’t drag me to Dubai but I feel very sorry for people hauled up there with missile debris falling around them. What a nasty post.

JasmineMac · 01/03/2026 22:06

Lemonfrost · 01/03/2026 22:03

You don't engage much at all by the sounds of it.

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...

To have little sympathy for people who've moved to Dubai?
Breadcat24 · 01/03/2026 22:06

I do not want anyone to be bombed anywhere. I cannot also imagine living or visiting anywhere with human rights like this region

Scottishskifun · 01/03/2026 22:04

I can't stand Dubai after a really bad experience when I was there a few days for work on the way back from SE Asia work trip. I would never go again and refuse to even use it as a flight connection point (or Doha etc).

But many people make a life there and it works for them. Its frankly pretty horrible to then take a smug attitude when there are bombs flying about!

Lemonfrost · 01/03/2026 22:03

Alpacajigsaw · 01/03/2026 21:58

Yeah probably best not, I don’t engage with virtue signalling.

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You don't engage much at all by the sounds of it.

Rizzz · 01/03/2026 22:01

BernardButlersBra · 01/03/2026 22:00

Literally this. It’s a ethically and morally bankrupt kind of place

Living the comments about envy 🤣. Hmm yeah so jealous of a life based around shopping centres, brunches and air conditioning. Not vacuous or boring at all. I’m not stuck where l am, because of my husband and l’s careers we have plenty of options. Dubai is a place both of us have zero interest in so have never even bothered to holiday there

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This whole post is morally bankrupt given the situation in Dubai at the moment.

Pot meets kettle.

Watchoutfortheslowaraf · 01/03/2026 22:01

How smug and gloaty. I’ve never lived abroad or been to Dubai. I have friends who teach out there because they can’t afford the cost of living here on a sole wage. I can’t imagine gloating at their current misfortune. Really horrible post, OP.

TY78910 · 01/03/2026 22:00

This is a very strange outlook on life tbh.
Do you feel somehow superior in feeling like you live in a “safe” country? And I say that in inverted commas because nowhere is really safe is it.

whatcanthematterbe81 · 01/03/2026 22:00

I mean, i always have sympathy for people who are scared for their lives. I’m not a dick you see

BernardButlersBra · 01/03/2026 22:00

MinPinSins · 01/03/2026 21:24

You're getting a lot of flack, but I agree with you. Many people have no choice but to be born into authoritarian states fueled by slavery, but for those who made the choice, my sympathy is non existent. Obviously many of them have children who you would completely empathise with, it must be terrifying and awful for them.

Literally this. It’s a ethically and morally bankrupt kind of place

Living the comments about envy 🤣. Hmm yeah so jealous of a life based around shopping centres, brunches and air conditioning. Not vacuous or boring at all. I’m not stuck where l am, because of my husband and l’s careers we have plenty of options. Dubai is a place both of us have zero interest in so have never even bothered to holiday there

Topseyt123 · 01/03/2026 21:59

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Dollymylove · 01/03/2026 21:58

LizzieSiddal · 01/03/2026 21:37

I have got sympathy for the fact they are in the middle of a war zone. However I don’t think much of their morals as they’ve chosen to live in a country with terrible human rights, which has been built using slave labour.

Edited

Oh how virtuous you are

JasmineMac · 01/03/2026 21:58

MauriceTheMussel · 01/03/2026 21:53

I have to agree with this; the classic British aversion to the tall poppies.

Whilst I found Dewbye to be boring, all this “nouveau riche tax dodgers” narrative smacks of Eat The Rich. God knows we all pay a shite load of tax in this country to be met with basically third world healthcare and the like, so why shouldn’t people try out different home countries? The UK is like a race to the bottom in attitudes sometimes

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"The UK is like a race to the bottom in attitudes sometimes".

It really isn't. It's choc full of people who think they have to either:

a) Apologise for their opinion
b) Demand apology for opinion

Dubai is a man made hell hole; literally, just thinking about the average temperature makes me sweat. In my opinion, of course, for which I shall not be apologising 🙂

Alpacajigsaw · 01/03/2026 21:58

Lemonfrost · 01/03/2026 21:52

If I have to explain, it's really not worth the effort.

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Yeah probably best not, I don’t engage with virtue signalling.

KimuraTan · 01/03/2026 21:58

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This 💯

MauriceTheMussel · 01/03/2026 21:57

LizzieSiddal · 01/03/2026 21:37

I have got sympathy for the fact they are in the middle of a war zone. However I don’t think much of their morals as they’ve chosen to live in a country with terrible human rights, which has been built using slave labour.

Edited

so, to translate, anyone who’s emigrated to the US which has a pretty shite record of personal freedoms of late deserves to one day be under military fire and drone bombings? Got it. Seems fair.

KimuraTan · 01/03/2026 21:57

I lived in Dubai and Qatar, had kids there and extensively travelled the region before moving away. I‘ve been in touch with former neighbours and friends who are stuck with drone interceptions, afraid for their lives. As so many others said this isn’t the time to gloat or extol the virtues of living in the UK. Have some empathy for those who are stuck in a war zone, sheltering with their loved ones tonight.

Shmithecat2 · 01/03/2026 21:56

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ChalkOrCheese · 01/03/2026 21:54

Please, say this to people in real life.

Let us know how it goes.

FunnyOrca · 01/03/2026 21:54

The reality weird thing about Dubai is that there is now a whole generation of children born of “ex-pats” who are now adults themselves. The people who I have met in this situation seem to have a complicated relationship with the place. It’s a weird expat culture to be your native culture, but it is their normal.

MsVisual · 01/03/2026 21:53

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mindutopia · 01/03/2026 21:53

My friend was sheltering in a closet with her kids last night. She’s a diplomat, sent to Dubai for a several year term. She’s gets no choice about where they get sent off to and no right of refusal if she wants to stay employed. Probably not the most dangerous place they’ve lived tbf, but still not nice.

Spare a thought too for all the people trafficked to Dubai and other places, some of whom work in hospitality or as household staff and were most likely to be injured in the attacks.

Rizzz · 01/03/2026 21:53

Lambington · 01/03/2026 21:49

My thoughts and prayers are with Isobella Oakshott and her husband Richard Tice.

Genuinely?

Or are you actually wishing ill on this couple?

It's hard to tell from your post?

MauriceTheMussel · 01/03/2026 21:53

OnlyMabelInTheBuilding · 01/03/2026 21:45

Bitterness.

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I have to agree with this; the classic British aversion to the tall poppies.

Whilst I found Dewbye to be boring, all this “nouveau riche tax dodgers” narrative smacks of Eat The Rich. God knows we all pay a shite load of tax in this country to be met with basically third world healthcare and the like, so why shouldn’t people try out different home countries? The UK is like a race to the bottom in attitudes sometimes

Lemonfrost · 01/03/2026 21:52

Alpacajigsaw · 01/03/2026 21:51

I said I felt sorry for them. What else do you want?

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If I have to explain, it's really not worth the effort.