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AIBU?

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Original poster

DH thinks we're going to get arrested in Dubai

714 replies

willyougobacktobed · 04/04/2019 18:34

Going to Dubai next week for Easter on a mini break with DH. As a tactile couple who enjoys a couple of drinks with dinner he's getting really anxious that we're going to get arrested if we a) unthinkingly give each other a peck on the cheek or b) share a bottle of wine and have a giggle.

He has googled their strict laws and legal systems LOTS.

I think he's BU, his worries and mithering are making me not look as forward to a holiday I've saved hard for as much as I otherwise would.

Are we going to get arrested?!

OP posts:
MamafromOz · 05/04/2019 19:49

You will be fine. We have been there many times and it is not THAT strict. They hold brunches where they plough peopl with booze. When you are in hotels and tourist places it is acceptable. Just don’t be silly. I would just hold off touching one another too much.

XiCi · 05/04/2019 19:51

We had a stopover last month in Muscat in the Oman I couldn't wait to board our plane

More fool you. Oman is wonderful.

Mcflybumbum · 05/04/2019 20:01

You wouldn't get me to agree to go to Dubai, even if i didn't have to pay a single penny.

Mummyshark2019 · 05/04/2019 20:02

Dubai is a lovely place. Beautiful, lovely people and incredibly safe. Enjoy your holiday OP, you'll be fine. Come back and update us after holiday.

Italiangreyhound · 05/04/2019 20:13

willyougobacktobed I think your husband is being very reasonable and you are not.

Sorry, but I think this is a very nasty place to go and I would not want to go there. Whatever people here say about safe trips they have taken, the laws seem very odd by UK standards and I would not want to fall foul of them.

www.alaraby.co.uk/english/indepth/2019/2/6/detained-in-dubai-uae-no-longer-safe-for-tourists

"A spokesperson from the International Campaign for Freedom UAE slammed what was perceived to be the UAE's hypocritical attempts to portray itself as tolerant while locking up football fans of an opposing team.

"To set up a tolerance ministry one week, then arrest a tourist for wearing the wrong football shirt the next, is quite frankly, beyond parody," said the spokesperson.

More than anything, it is now abundantly clear that the UAE is no longer a safe tourist destination. It is about time that the UK Foreign Office accepted that fact, and revised its travel advice to the Emirates accordingly."

There are older links too, which I expect your husband has seen , which is why he is nervous.

www.nytimes.com/2017/11/11/world/middleeast/dubai-crimes-united-arab-emirates-jail.html

I've not read all the pages of this thread so maybe these links have been posted before.

theculturetrip.com/middle-east/united-arab-emirates/articles/11-ways-you-can-get-arrested-in-dubai/

I really do hope your trip goes well but do be careful.

yolofish · 05/04/2019 20:13

Does anyone else not think that OP sounds like absolutely the worst person to meet on holiday? Really sorry OP, but you sound as if you would be a bit of a nightmare...!

Italiangreyhound · 05/04/2019 20:14

"...lovely place. Beautiful, lovely people..." I don't think people are saying the place or people are not lovely, it is the laws.

Strokethefurrywall · 05/04/2019 20:19

Does anyone else not think that OP sounds like absolutely the worst person to meet on holiday? Really sorry OP, but you sound as if you would be a bit of a nightmare...!

I think I'd rather meet the OP on holiday than someone with this kind of bullshit judgement...

yolofish · 05/04/2019 20:23

really stroke? PDA, 'tactile' 'likes a giggle' (aka pissed) in a muslim country? they sound a bloody nightmare to me, but I will hoick my judgypants with abandon knowing that I wont meet them on hols... but I still hope they have a lovely time and dont get arrested anyway.

Mummyshark2019 · 05/04/2019 20:28

FFS. It's perfectly fine. Nothing fucking happens. There is nothing wrong with the laws. They are liberal. Don't fuck around on the streets, retain some modesty and you are fine. If you you don't want to do that then book a holiday to Magaluf!

Strokethefurrywall · 05/04/2019 20:30

Meh - I've been drunk in plenty of muslim countries and frankly, given the state and behavior of the wretches falling out of nightclubs throughout most of the UK (already eagerly awaiting photos from Aintree), I think I would rather cope with a married couple having a drunken laugh on holiday.

Ferret27 · 05/04/2019 20:46

Mummy shark... do you know what liberal means!
Sorry ..obviously not as you love to holiday in Dubai... & probably Bahrain is next .... maybe catch a stoning or if you are lucky a flogging of an apostate so you can say how lovely most of the locals were in your neck of the woods!

Dumdedumdedum · 05/04/2019 20:56

Simple. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. If you don't like the local laws, don't go there.
(I live in Dubai. I drink. I enjoy myself. I abide by the local rules. I don't cover. I feel an awful lot safer than I do in South London.)

Armadillostoes · 05/04/2019 20:57

Mummyshark-If you think your post accurately reflects the legal picture in the UEA you are deluded.

Do you really not have a problem with the way in which women, gay people and vulnerable foreign workers are treated in Dubai? Is it that you don't know, or just don't care as long as you get to have fun?

Thewitcher · 05/04/2019 20:58

@Mummyshark2019

Nothing wrong with the law? You realise homosexuality is illegal there, right? Two years ago a Scottish tourist put his hand on a man's hip to avoid spilling a drink and was sentenced to three months in prison ffs.

smilingontheinside · 05/04/2019 20:59

I have read most of the thread but have noticed that the op likes the posts where people tell her she'll be OK or to read up about the laws etc. Yet she has not (unless I missed it and then I stand corrected) commented on those posts about the treatment of women or the counties poor human rights record etc perhaps she dosn't care as long as she can hold hands and have a drink Hmm I've visited many places but Dubai holds no interest for me at all.

SausageAndEgg · 05/04/2019 21:00

If you go to Dubai then you’re hopefully married and you’ll stick to hotel/tourist parts. Don’t venture further afield, it isn’t worth it.
And don’t make public shows of affection full stop, but again it helps that you’re married...

peeblet · 05/04/2019 21:01

I had trouble there with police for grazing my partners hand in what looked like an affectionate manner to a total random. we are two women though..
never going back -horrendous place . don't recall even touching her

Ellenborough · 05/04/2019 21:05

That is odd Peeblet because heterosexual Asian men hold hands and put their arms around one another all the time and no-one bats an eyelid. I think it's just assumed to be a matey thing (it is) and not a sign that they are gay. It's something you never see straight western men do.

BolloxtoGender · 05/04/2019 21:11

Yeah Dubai is fine. People think it’ll all be fine and nothing will happen to them.........until something does.

It’s always other people these things happen to.

Tinkerbelle57 · 05/04/2019 21:12

You have chosen to go to a Muslim country for a holiday so you must respect their rules and laws.
The resorts are ok if you behave normally. Wearing swimwear and not covering up and drinking alcohol is ok.
If you go shopping in the malls, wear respectful clothing. Clothes to the knee and elbow. (No beachwear -would you beachwear when going shopping here?)
I personally don’t like to see too much public displays of affection here out in public, so understand they don’t want over there. Just behave yourself and you will be fine.
If you are a normal married couple, they accept normal affection but don’t want to see a lot of kissing etc so maybe keep it for your hotel room.

Jogonandshutup · 05/04/2019 21:22

It’s true - go somewhere with archaic religious laws and you’ll probably get locked up (or worse)! Won’t be long before it’s like that in the UK - some pockets of the country are under these ‘laws’ now and there is nothing the govmt can do about it 😥

64632K · 05/04/2019 21:31

We were mindful of no PDAs in public areas, no hand holding or hugging or kissing - not that I hug or kiss in public anyway no matter where we are. Dressed modestly too, the trick is not to offend any locals, its key to keeping yourself out of jail. Its a modest Muslim country so just be mindful of their way of life and respect that they dont appreciate PDAs. Dont drink or be drunk in public places other than hotels/tourist areas.

LimeKiwi · 05/04/2019 21:32

Does anyone else not think that OP sounds like absolutely the worst person to meet on holiday? Really sorry OP, but you sound as if you would be a bit of a nightmare...!

I think I'd rather meet the OP on holiday than someone with this kind of bullshit judgement...

See, I'm in the middle - I'd love to meet OP on holiday for drinks and a laugh, but not in the UAE as I'm female and like my rights as a Westerner UK far too much! Nooooo ta
I'm a person too.

stayathomer · 05/04/2019 21:37

If the roles were reversed I think this thread would be 'Just tell him you're uncomfortable/afraid and that you don't want to go.' I think if either person is that uncomfortable then you shouldn't be going.( Didn't rtft past page 5 so if something has changed then am sorry!)

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