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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To never want to visit Qatar?

216 replies

RareLilacFinch · 28/12/2024 00:37

The incessant full-page ads I’m getting on MN encouraging me to visit Qatar have got me thinking about why I’d never want to go there.

As a woman, there are obvious reasons - not wanting to be under the “guardianship” of my husband, and the forced gynaecological examinations of a plane full of Australian women being the tip of the iceberg - on top of the hideous human rights abuses of migrant workers, and the general suppression of free speech.

So AIBU - am I missing something?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
Enough4me · 28/12/2024 00:39

Completely agree with you, as does my male partner mainly due to the way women are treated but also as their legal system is corrupt.

hazelnutvanillalatte · 28/12/2024 00:40

I feel the exact same as you and I hate seeing people I know going to places like Dubai which are run on slave labour and perpetuate terrible human rights abuses.

Turophilic · 28/12/2024 00:41

Why would anyone want to go there? It looks ghastly.

Alittlebitfluffy · 28/12/2024 00:44

I fly their airline often and have never once wanted to stopover, so yes I agree.

Good airline though!

UmbrellaEllaEllaElla · 28/12/2024 00:48

No way I'd ever go there.

purplecorkheart · 28/12/2024 00:49

I am glad I am not the only one. However I am scared to say so in real life. I refused a girls trip to Dubai recently. I lost a few so called friends.

Annonymiss123 · 28/12/2024 00:59

the forced gynaecological examinations of a plane full of Australian women

What?!

creamsnugjumper · 28/12/2024 01:03

hazelnutvanillalatte · 28/12/2024 00:40

I feel the exact same as you and I hate seeing people I know going to places like Dubai which are run on slave labour and perpetuate terrible human rights abuses.

I agree but also to add to the list Singapore.

it's basically built on Bangladeshi workers, who die at alarming rates and are essentially owned. It's a melting pot of Asian sex trade and modern slavery.

purplecorkheart · 28/12/2024 01:03

Annonymiss123 · 28/12/2024 00:59

the forced gynaecological examinations of a plane full of Australian women

What?!

Yes, it happened a couple of years ago. A new born was found sadly found in the airport and many women were forced to undergo and examination before being allowed depart the airport.

Hoardasurass · 28/12/2024 01:03

Annonymiss123 · 28/12/2024 00:59

the forced gynaecological examinations of a plane full of Australian women

What?!

A new born baby was found in the airport and all females of child barring age were forced to have a gynecological examination before their planes were allowed to take off all legal under their laws. Which is why I wouldn't even stop for a refuge their

Guest100 · 28/12/2024 01:04

I wouldn’t go there, even as a stop over.

Youngheartsalittletogetherness · 28/12/2024 01:07

That's just perverse!!

Thatcastlethere · 28/12/2024 01:10

I have a vague interest in Dubai as I think it looks like a giant expensive Trafford Centre. And I love the Trafford Centre as some type of satanist temple to capitalism.. the aesthetic is just unhinged!!
But I'd never go there and indulge my interest as I know the exploitation the place is built on is just too glaring.
I know most things in life are in some way built on exploitation but Dubai is just over the limit of my tolerance for it. I'd just feel too guilty swanning about some luxury hotel knowing what some women have to go thru there in order for the 'glamorous' facade to be maintained

FictionalCharacter · 28/12/2024 01:10

purplecorkheart · 28/12/2024 01:03

Yes, it happened a couple of years ago. A new born was found sadly found in the airport and many women were forced to undergo and examination before being allowed depart the airport.

Show quote history

Wow. What would have happened if they'd said no?

Fraaances · 28/12/2024 01:13

How the hell do they expect ppl to view their site when they can’t get rid of the fucking ad? I can’t look at a thread for more than ten seconds before that giant bastard pops up and you can’t kill it! Like everyone here, I refuse to travel via Qatar or any Emirati country. Life is far too cheap there if you are a woman or non-citizen. l always travel via Singapore when crossing hemispheres. Not perfect but much more transparent.

To never want to visit Qatar?
To never want to visit Qatar?
chaosmaker · 28/12/2024 01:15

Also hate all the sports washing and celebrities that perform there, giving it a veneer of respectability to those that look no deeper into things or care about such trifles as human rights.

See also any form of deregulation.

JuliaLivilla · 28/12/2024 01:16

I have often travelled from Sydney to European destinations. I would no longer travel on an airline that makes a stop in the Middle East or is associated with any countries there.

Yes, the other routes are probably considerably more expensive - or were last I looked - but I decided it would be worth it to me.

Youngheartsalittletogetherness · 28/12/2024 01:16

creamsnugjumper · 28/12/2024 01:03

I agree but also to add to the list Singapore.

it's basically built on Bangladeshi workers, who die at alarming rates and are essentially owned. It's a melting pot of Asian sex trade and modern slavery.

Show quote history

I'm sure I watched a documentary about their version of gumtree and you were able to buy and sell domestic staff(they called them servants) they were mostly from the Philippines if I remember correctly and had the most awful lives.

RogueFemale · 28/12/2024 01:17

There are too many reasons not to want to go there, ever.

DonnaBanana · 28/12/2024 01:18

It wouldn’t really bother me. Islam is a sister religion of The Book and any devout Muslim state is little different morally to a devoutly Christian one. Weird exceptions and things happen in every country, you can’t let it scare you off what is otherwise a perfectly fine and civilised country.

Projectmee · 28/12/2024 01:20

Yeah I’m not keen on any of those countries after that London 18 year old was recently imprisoned in Dubai for a year for having sex with a (British) 17 year old.

There was a thread on here about it and I saw lots of other crazy stories like the man who had a grain of weed found on his shoe while connecting at Dubai airport and was jailed!

It’s all very well people saying their country their rules but there’s all kinds of sex trafficking and abuse of workers going on that authorities endorse or turn a blind eye to, but then they talk about the rule of law when it suits them.

Projectmee · 28/12/2024 01:23

JuliaLivilla · 28/12/2024 01:16

I have often travelled from Sydney to European destinations. I would no longer travel on an airline that makes a stop in the Middle East or is associated with any countries there.

Yes, the other routes are probably considerably more expensive - or were last I looked - but I decided it would be worth it to me.

Same. A few of the stories I’ve heard recently involved people who were just connecting in Dubai. The risk is relatively low but it doesn’t seem worth it.

chaosmaker · 28/12/2024 01:30

Next door neighbours' daughter worked as a teacher in one of the ME countries for a few years. They thought she was weird for not having a servant. You really could not pay me to go there.

spoonfulofsugar1 · 28/12/2024 01:30

DonnaBanana · 28/12/2024 01:18

It wouldn’t really bother me. Islam is a sister religion of The Book and any devout Muslim state is little different morally to a devoutly Christian one. Weird exceptions and things happen in every country, you can’t let it scare you off what is otherwise a perfectly fine and civilised country.

The moral difference is a fairly good reason to put you off a place. And you aren't likely to undergo a forced gynaecological exam going to Spain or France.

Lostinmusic22 · 28/12/2024 01:37

I have been there en route to an other destination. It’s stricter than I thought it would be - extremely hot. There was an undercurrent of tension. I wouldn’t rush back.