Dubai/UAE - where did you think you were?

[WhyamIinahandcartandwherearewegoing]

I’ll preface this by saying I wish the best for anyone out there, working or holidaying. I hope you are and remain safe.

but do people go there with next to no concern for where in the world it’s located? Do they pay no attention to news or the general geopolitical situation, it’s hnot exactly a secret.

are we really that dense that most people don’t look past the bling, the weather, the tax perks, the bloody influencers?

OK. One can have deeper reasons to object to laws than just because 'they're not like my own', though.

Right, but you do accept that pre-Taliban Afghanistan was not a liberal democracy? Not in the post-1973 Daoud Khan period, anyway.

If you mean the 1964-1973 period, that would be accurate.

Most countries in the world are not democracies.

Fine, but that still leaves plenty to visit which are. Off the top of my head, most of Europe, Australia and NZ, most of South America, US, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, India, and quite a few others. In Africa there's Mauritius, Botswana, Namibia, Ghana, Senegal and South Africa.

Yeah, again, not what I said though, was it?

Well, you did say :' you don’t get to go to a country and say “how offensive are these laws when they’re not like my own?”', implying that's the main reason people object.

What is a "democracy" ?

Oooh, no. You inferred, I didn’t imply…but I feel you just need to get the last word no matter what, so I’ll let you reply to this and then we can go about our lives

Oh yeah? So what about overthrow of Mossadegh?

I know about the underbelly of Dubai, but if you chose destinations on a moral stance, you'd never go anywhere! And travel broadens the mind, even if horrifying the mind is how it broadens. I don't know why it's suddenly fashionable to avoid Dubai when Brits are voracious travellers who go to places with underbellies ALL the time.

India! If you wouldn't go to Dubai because of your morals, surely you would not go to India! Have you heard how they treat women?!

How do they pay tax on a non-existent income???

Indeed. I wonder at our own version of democracy these days, and certainly that of the US.

I think people have forgotten where Dubai actually is located. Anything for an easy, sunny life. No care for human rights or the language and culture.

India is a large and complex place. I don't know how " they" treat women, do you?

Some benefits are taxed. New style jsa and esa are as far as I am aware

Vile and true. Really if you are so thick to go there, you deserve all you get.

I get what you're saying, I really do, but has travel not long been worshipped as the greatest way to broaden the mind? There are so many places in the world that have serious underbellies, so if you choose places based on a judgement call about their cultures, you'll end up missing out on a whole lot of education. Isn't the point of travel precisely to experience first-hand places that have totally different regimes and ways and culture from your home? I think it means more to experience these things first-hand than to just sit in a comfy country half a world away and read about them in the newspapers. Plus you can help the locals by going, and tipping them well.

Omg, look it up. It's terrible.

Vile and true. Really if you are so thick to go there, you deserve all you get.

@bafta16 Would you go to Cuba?

It’s perfectly acceptable to choose not to visit somewhere because you don’t agree with some of their beliefs and laws. I choose not to visit the UAE because of their involvement in Sudan, as well as their slavery, attitude towards homosexuality and women. these reasons are fine for me not to travel to those countries. It’s okay not to want to go somewhere based on such things.

I don't need to look anything up, I have Indian friends. My AC have Indian colleagues and friends. It is a large and complex country and society.

Hilarious thread

I'm so righteous, so ethical, have such high morals. Anyone who doesn't share my values and makes different life choices deserve to be stuck under bombs, I have no sympathy for them.

UAE is 37th (out of 140) in the order of world justice, although top of the list for EMEA countries. Alongside civil law, the area is also governed by Sharia law with:
"lower scores in areas such as fundamental rights and constraints on government powers, particularly regarding freedom of opinion and expression". Travelling here and other parts of the Middle East and Africa without knowledge and awareness is foolish. I have lived and worked all over, including in Iran itself (as a child during the revolution). I have stopped going to any of these places in recent years as well as avoiding Turkey for similar reasons. Bright lights and pretty jewels blind many people to the facts! Plus admittedly the climate is great.

No one deserve to be bombed. No innocent person should suffer. But people who are visit or move to countries like are inadvertently supporting the bombing, torture and murder of those in Sudan. And supporting slavery. And it’s okay to point that out. Clearly, not enough people know or care, so we should be discussing it.

It’s not hilarious in the slightest, none of this is. Not for the people in Sudan, in Iran, in Dubai, in Cyprus. No one should be suffering.