To think it's a bit much for tax excuses to expect rescue by the Brotish Government (taxpayer).

Please God that doesn't happen but in the meantime they are free to pursue their lives at home or abroad.

And if Britain goes to war and it's big enough for a draft these young graduates are able to be drafted. As citizens they have rights but responsibilities also.
Not that I think it will come to that.

That’s not what you suggested and also not how immigration works. Do look it up.

But they often aren't citizens of the country they emigrate to. You cannot become a UAE citizen no matter how long you live there.

??? I could say that last line to YOU!

It's utterly farcical that you compare a British diplomat living abroad - to someone who has CHOSEN to move somewhere abroad to avoid paying tax, and 'because it's sooooo much better' just to come begging the UK Government to help when it all goes a bit 'wrong.'

Have THIS back! >>> 😂

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Err.. could the difference in numbers be that Finland's economy and society does not require or provide the opportunities of an expanding nation like the UAE? And I'll say it again the low tax is a big incentive but opportunity is just as important. Young graduates in particular are struggling to find good UK jobs and for all levels the UK job market is currently tough. Don't be surprised when people move to the UAE.

In situations like this previously people have sentbtheir children home to relatives while they stay there for work.

Are you generally a misanthrope or is it specifically migrants you hate?

Gosh the bias and straw man argument coming out as I dare suggest someone who has decided to immigrate is now a citizen of another country

They aren't comparable as the motivation is the key factor here. There are about 5000 British citizens living in Finland and what is it? 240000 in Dubai, not really comparable are they, I wonder why.

Are you generally a misanthrope or is it specifically migrants you hate?

The idea that someone who has moved abroad has voided their right to consular assistance is not how citizenship works. Governments evacuate their nationals from conflict zones because they are nationals — not because they’ve passed a purity test about why they moved.

And the “just make your own way back” line is particularly revealing. In case you haven’t noticed, wars tend to involve closed airspace, destroyed infrastructure, armed checkpoints, and active combat. The UK government didn’t evacuate people from Afghanistan in 2021 because it was a fun group outing. The US didn’t run evacuations from Sudan in 2023 because travel insurance had lapsed. States evacuate citizens because functioning governments recognise a duty of care.

As for “you’re not automatically going to be killed” — what a reassuring standard. I assume we’ll be updating emergency policy across the board to “well, statistically, you might survive.”

Consular protection isn’t a reward for ideological loyalty. It’s a basic function of statehood. If you hold citizenship, your government has obligations to you — whether you moved for love, work, weather, or yes, even tax.

Pretending war zones are mildly inconvenient travel disruptions and that citizenship is conditional on lifestyle choices is maliciously nihilistic.

I guess we should not get you started on all the doctors who pissed off to Canada or Australia rather than working for the holy NHS to serve you? So serves those teachers in Dubai right, ehh?

And how exactly would you make your own way when all feasible options for leaving said country are closed? That is why government evacuations happen, because there is no civilian alternative.

What? By that same logic someone who hasn’t paid tax in the U.K. because they’re on low income shouldn’t be availed of the NHS because they’re haven’t paid in. A diplomat stationed abroad by the U.K. government or a British person posted abroad by the British company they work for (and neither of these individuals would be paying tax in the U.K. they would be paying tax in the territory they are resident in) shouldn’t be rescued by the U.K. government if they were caught in a war zone.

By your reckoning the rights of citizenship are bought and paid for and not an inalienable right, and leaving a country removes any rights associated with being from that country. In other words, we should all just stay where we came from.

What the actual fuck 😂

if you've chosen to live in another country as an immigrant, then a war starts in that country - surely you can try and get back to the country you arrived from. That doesn't though need to be aided by the government of that previous country, you'd make your own way. You're also not going to be automatically killed, many people live through war torn areas.

Nobody would surely stop you from returning.

Iran attacked military bases in Qatar last year.
Qatar is next door the UAE for those unfamiliar with the geography which is many. They've also launched drone attacks on Bahrain military bases before.

The UAE closed its airspace for a day (that includes Dubai airport).

So I really don't think we can saw no one foresaw an attack on the UAE. There is a very recent history of attacks right next door.....

OK, let’s say we all agree with your judgment that moving somewhere for lower taxes is reprehensible.

In the event of a war, do you really think the punishment should be being abandoned in a middle of a hot conflict?

I’m interested in how ‘I don’t agree with your fiscal choices’ takes you to ‘and therefore I’m happy for you to die in a war zone, should circumstances change’.

Civilian evacuation is only ever implemented when no other safe options remain.

I actually think it is you that are being disingenuous.
We each pay the required taxes in our country of residence/citizenship as required by the laws of those countries. Working in Finland isn't morally better than working in the UAE, just because taxes are higher. If you live in Finland you wouldn't pay UK income tax either.
You again assume that the main motivation for living in the UAE is a tax free life. It's a factor, but career opportunity, lifestyle etc are equally important.
And what is actually wrong with taking a job in a country where taxes are lower than the UK? Why would I pay 45% income tax if I can get a better job with lower taxes? It's not a crime.

@GateauSVP · Today 12:36

I wonder how people would react if ex pats in Finland for example suddenly needed help because Russia invaded?
Or expats in America needed evacuating because civil war broke out over there.

They are also not paying tax in the UK....

I would react the same. The UK is not obligated to help them (IMO) if they have left the UK, and are now living in another country.

Why on earth do you think anyone would think or react differently if someone had gone to live in Finland, and not Dubai?

.

Except, you don't pay tax there because you have to pay for everything yourself.

Health care, education etc. They aren't getting it for free!

Again, disingenuous. You would certainly be paying tax in Finland and people don't pursue working there to have a tax free life for a few years. It is not the same motivation at all.

There is way more nuance to the “built on slavery” stuff too. My Philippina housekeeper put her two children through school on the wages she earned in UAE - one is now at University (and we continue to support her and my DH’s former nanny’s family in India). There are similar stories throughout the ME - my employer’s former driver from Kashmir was supporting his extended family.

Nobody sane would condone working conditions in the UAE construction sector, but we don’t live in a world where everyone has a viable alternative, like welfare or a council flat. You’d be equally insane not to do a job that enabled you to clothe, feed and educate your children, if the alternative was having nothing, and that is the sad reality.

No one ever foresaw that Iran would attack the UAE. By the same analogy, should no one take up a position in Poland or another Eastern European country? I actually thought Russia attacking Poland or one of the Baltic states a more likely occurrence. And I was worrying about it in my last role given that the company I worked for had a major service centre there and it would have severely disrupted our operations within Europe and beyond. And more importantly, I was concerned about my colleagues who were based there.

I don’t think any country is safe. An EU country is currently being attacked.

It’s also not about affording a flight home and you know that. If there are no commercial flights, than people will have to rely on Government evacuation. As UK citizens they have every right to do that.

I wonder how people would react if ex pats in Finland for example suddenly needed help because Russia invaded?

Or expats in America needed evacuating because civil war broke out over there.

They are also not paying tax in the UK....

Though I do find it wonderful that Mumsnet allows people to debate the morality of somewhere like Dubai, through the use of technology made in China, that bastion of human rights. I bet you all feel so good about yourselves for being morally superior as you type away on your android / iPhone.

100% this. ^

I know a group of expats who have lived there for a long time. They enjoy the access to beaches, deserts, scuba diving and so on. Many of them are not on the full expat deals with everything paid for. Some of them have created businesses, lives and families there. Yes agreed some definitely do it as a tax thing but not everyone is there only for that. That's a lens but not the whole story.

Either way, OP is suggesting that people should not be evacuated if it came to that or have some kind of evacuation assessment. That's just ridiculous. No one there asked for this war.