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Women detained in Dubai ‘after glass of wine on plane’

260 replies

Aridane · 11/08/2018 13:50

Reading today’s Guardian and came across this.

Swedish dentist travelling with four year old daughter from London to Dubai had a glass of wine on the flight. Taken into custody as had an invalid visa and pending return to UK. Blood test then administered to test for alcohol. As a result of which apparently she and daughter detained for three days and made to clean toilets.

Released on bail, passport confiscated, remaining in Dubai pending hearing in a year.

Can’t do a link as reading a physical newspaper.

Anyone know any more about this? Is there more to it than a glass of wine on the flight and an invalid visa?

Just seems quite odd.

OP posts:
DiegoMadonna · 11/08/2018 16:12

What are the prisons in Dubai like then?

hmcAsWas · 11/08/2018 16:12

What RedBallpoint said

helacells · 11/08/2018 16:13

She was daft but Dubai sounds like an awful place to visit.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

hmcAsWas · 11/08/2018 16:24

I am a bit bemused with the race to defend the integrity of the UAE
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates
Its pretty clear that this woman did not behave impeccably, but its also seems that the UAE were disproportionately heavy handed (she's been released pretty darn quickly - that might well be due to the bad PR for tourism), and I would maintain that a mere woman challenging the immigration official would have lit the blue touch paper

specialsubject · 11/08/2018 16:27

the glass of wine turns out to be irrelevant. Surprise...

sounds like the top tip is not to travel to a country without the appropriate visa, and not to break the rules of that visa while you are there. Because, funnily enough, it may get noticed and then you will be in the shit.

not everywhere is as easy on hooligan foreigners as the UK is.

no sympathy except for the kid who suffered because mummy thought she was above the rules.

CraftyGin · 11/08/2018 16:28

I am a bit bemused with the race to defend the integrity of the UAE

I don’t think anyone defended them, but rather acknowledged the status quo.

Also, that her behaviour would have been unacceptable in most countries, including the U.K.

I’d love to merge this thread with the BJ postbox thread.

BunnyCarr · 11/08/2018 16:29

helacells
She was daft but Dubai sounds like an awful place to visit.

No - it's not.

DiegoMadonna · 11/08/2018 16:31

No - it's not.

I think that's what we call subjective opinion!

ohnothanks · 11/08/2018 16:46

It sounds absolutely awful and I would never go there on principle, as a woman. Like many other places.

There are many other things that are against the law there, like sex outside of marriage, cross-dressing, homosexual acts. It does not matter if these powers are not frequently used. They are there and you risk being chucked inside without any evidence or a trial for a very long time.

Oh, and it exploits poor foreign workers mercilessly.

ohnothanks · 11/08/2018 16:54

And let's not forget that if you are unlucky enough to be raped the burden of providing evidence falls on the victim and if the police don't believe you, hey, they might just charge you for having sex outside of marriage. Great!

Magicbugkiller · 11/08/2018 17:29

So it has nothing to do with her having an invalid visa, then getting into an argument with customs and then filming them on her phone when asked not to do so.

Exactly, she would also have been arrested in the USA. They initially tried to deport her vis the next plane but she refused.

I am no fan of UAE but if you go there you know the rules.

zzzzz · 11/08/2018 17:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

hmcAsWas · 11/08/2018 17:41

I suggest you look up xenophobia since you clearly don't know what it means.

ohnothanks · 11/08/2018 18:22

Arfff at xenophobia 😂😂. Are you fully aware of the institutionalised racist discrimination in UAE society?!?!?!

zzzzz · 11/08/2018 18:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

zzzzz · 11/08/2018 18:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ChardonnaysPrettySister · 11/08/2018 18:35

Actually forget that, have you any idea what it’s like to travel if you aren’t white and british?

I most definitely do and it's not doing to make me more likely to go to Dubai.

hmcAsWas · 11/08/2018 18:39

It is not xenophobic or reactionary to criticise aspects of another country’s penal system….unless Amnesty International are xenophobic / reactionary? Or perhaps its xenophobic / reactionary to criticise Trump’s Zero Tolerance Policy at the Mexican Border which saw children effectively detained and separated from their parents?

In answer to your question, I'm no expert but I anticipate that it would play out something like this: An Arab person turning up at Heathrow with an out of date visa would be told they must return home. If they argued their case and tried to refuse they would be warned of the consequences of resisting and failing to comply - i.e. detainment. Detainment would then no doubt prove unnecessary since the visitor would realise that they was no viable alternative than to return home, since who would choose incarceration over taking the next flight home?

Do I think this woman was a bit arsey - yes. Do I think she tried to argue that she should stay - yes, she admits as much. Do I think the Immigration official warned her that if she did not comply with his instruction to return home she would face imprisonment - nope. Do I think they quickly escalated to armed police and detainment when this could have been avoided - yep....and do I suspect that there was particular umbrage taking at a mere woman asserting herself, yes I do

And for the record I deplore what Boris Johnson has said about burkas (and its not entirely relevant to this discussion)

zzzzz · 11/08/2018 18:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

fuzzywuzzy · 11/08/2018 18:55

Honestly, you’d have to be a very unique kind of stupid if you didn’t realise that refusing to leave on the offered flight and then illegally filming and arguing with immigration when you have not got the correct paperwork to enter a country would not land you in prison.

hmcAsWas · 11/08/2018 18:56

Why?

Because who would choose imprisonment in Dubai rather than (reluctantly) concede that irrespective of how tired their 4 year old was after a long flight, then perhaps they should accept the need to return to the UK after all?

Aridane · 11/08/2018 18:58

So, basically:- i) invalid visa / unlawfully entering Dubai and refusing to leave country, ii) filming in a restricted area, and iii) what was thought to be drunk and disorderly behaviour. (Plus free lance Botox practising in Dubai).

‘Detained in Dubai’ who,represented her is an NGO but it’s comments seem quite inflammatory for an NGO

OP posts:
hmcAsWas · 11/08/2018 19:01

On your other 'why', this from the wiki article:

Discrimination in Personal Status Code[edit]

Male guardianship in the UAE prevents women from making autonomous decisions about marriage. Article 39 of the Personal Status Code states that a male guardian must conclude any marriage contract a woman enters into and has the power to request an annulment of the marriage.[158] Men on the other hand can marry up to four women. Article 56 makes it obligatory for women to "obey" their husbands.

The law in the UAE provides that a man may unilaterally divorce his wife, whereas a woman who wishes to seek a divorce must apply for a court order which is only granted on limited grounds.[159] These include failure of the husband to provide maintenance, his disappearance, or sexual desertion of his wife, or because he has been sentenced to imprisonment for a term that exceeds three years.[160]

There is an alternative for women to dissolve their marriage found under article 110 of the Personal Status Code, or khul', if the husband agrees to it in return for a financial settlement, however this means a woman relinquishes her right to the mahr – or the dowry she received as part of the marriage contract.

As to custody of children, women are considered physical guardians, they have the right to custody up to the age of 13 for girls and 10 for boys. But if a woman chooses to remarry she automatically forfeits her right to custody of her children.

Furthermore, under article 71, women who leave their husbands can be ordered to return to their marital home.

Violence against women[edit]

Marriage[edit]

The UAE has no specific laws on domestic violence. Under Article 53 of the UAE's Penal Code the "chastisement by a husband to his wife and the chastisement of minor children" is permitted, within the limits set by Sharia law.[161] In one case the Federal Court sanctioned a husband's beating of his wife so long as he did not leave physical marks, and in another case a man was ordered to pay a fee for taking it too far by leaving physical injuries on his beaten wife.[161]

Furthermore, there is growing concern at the UAE's lack of action against domestic violence. Human Rights Watch has documented three cases where it was alleged that police discouraged UK nationals from reporting cases of domestic violence.[162]

A woman in the UAE can lose her right to maintenance from her husband is she refuses sexual relations with him without a valid excuse, thus marital rape is not a crime.[163]

Sexual assault and harassment[edit]

It is cultural tradition in the Emirates that a family's honour depends on a woman's good reputation. Thus, a victim may face ostracism from her family as society is quick to judge sexual assault as immoral
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How can you argue that women are anything other than second class citizens - and this will mean that it is shaming to be seen to accept criticism or defiance from a woman

hmcAsWas · 11/08/2018 19:02

I am inclined to agree that she was stupid - but that's not a crime

hmcAsWas · 11/08/2018 19:04

Do we know that she was drunk and disorderly? That's a bit of a leap. The article I read say that her blood alcohol level was low