Brits who moved to Dubai, how's life?

[Southparkt]

I had several friends who moved to Dubai in the last 3 years and they are really loving it and have no plans to come back. We have been considering a move as we have young family and will be very thankful if we can afford to have nannies and driver etc as our friends have. They feel more relaxed in the sun and can afford big house with swimming pool etc. We are high earners here and used to have nanny for our oldest but if we keep spending at that rate, we can never retire here with the Cost of living increases.
I am looking to hear from Brits who moved to Dubai and how life feels like now?

They do grow really nice tomatoes tbf. And some other veg mainly around RAK afaik

Wow - I just read that list! And all that forbidden behaviour is in addition to the human rights issues, the fact that it's too hot to go outside for half the year so you're basically living indoors with air-con, the lack of trees and green countryside, the car-centric town planning, the harsh skyscraper architecture, the glorification of money above everything...

I really, really don't understand the attraction!

A lot on that list is very outdated and inaccurate, or pretty standard for most countries. Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.

Which ones are inaccurate?

@Ukkake curious to know what opportunities you have found for your 19 year old in Dubai? Genuine question as an expat in Dubai who left when the eldest was 16

She’s currently working at DXB airport, she’s hoping to get a foot in the door in the business aviation sector within the next year or two.

Blimey my DH also worked in worker accommodation in Dubai and there is no way it was state of the art. They are barracks - no other way of putting it. The more enlightened companies organise entertainment and social activities such as iftar dinners but there is no way any Westerner would look at the camps with anything other than deep discomfort - and I have actually been there.

Politely, what is wrong with barracks accommodation? We expect soldiers/military personnel to live in those conditions, and to fight for us. So why, honestly, do you think asylum seekers deserve more?

We're not talking about asylum seekers though, but workers on Dubai's building etc projects

I mentioned them in an earlier post.

Yes a couple of months of the year it is bloody hot, but so hot you can’t go outside? Nonsense.
And it’s just comparable to the UK but in opposite terms, it’s just hot instead of cold. You adapt.

which were?

Look back, it’s not hard. I CBA repeating myself.

You're guess is entirely incorrect! None of what I've said in this thread is from the press, it is from first hand experience.

You claim that the UAE is 'impressive' compared to Kuwait, KSA, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Jordan, India, Sudan. Turkey, Chad, Mali. Seriously?! All of those countries have appalling human rights track records but most are still rated better than the UAE according to official HR indices. Even those that don't, comparing them is like claiming Ian Huntley is a hero because he murdered less kids than Ian Brady.

No, not if you paid me to live there.

Why are posters so comfortable using this slur. 😩 A term to denigrate poor people with social problems, or a poor level of education, why is it acceptable?
Would they be comfortable typing out other slurs or is the disadvantaged in society fair game.

Lack of human rights.

Zero gay rights.

Nope.

Hi OP I kind of knew this thread would go this way for you. People have valid comments to make, you’ll need to decide for yourself.

my friend moved about two years ago, during her second mat leave. They have a live in nanny / housekeeper who is part of the family now. She’s an older Filipino lady who is in Dubai to fund her son’s university back home. My friend said she would have felt too awful employing a young girl who was missing her own babies.

it’s a fantastic life for a young family and allows her and her husband to both work (corporate law) relatively stress free (aside from work) and have the kids cared for at home by someone they trust.

the time they save not commuting 2 hours each day, cooking, cleaning, shopping, doing nursery runs etc has given them so much extra time as a family. They have a lovely life.

How else do you think all of your friends can afford drivers and nannies??? A combination of trafficking and exploited low wage workers from Africa and Southern Asia provide the cheap labour to make this fantasy possible. And no, Dubai is not exclusive in exploiting workers but it is a relatively new economy built on and reliant on low paid workers to attract career professionals.

I do have some family over there and know several people who have lived there and yes they are happy with the quality of life, although the heat is very intensive. I have been there before for work purposes for a previous job and that visit alone was enough for me to see that it was not a place I would want to live. Very professional and shiny but lacks soul imo.

These are workers who have paid dodgy agencies to get them to the middle east under the promise of money to send back home. Why the fuck are you calling them asylum seekers, do you know what an asylusm seeker is?

@bigwhitedog exactly - it’s the same as people in the public who class anyone non white or eastern European as ‘illegals’ many were born here, many have a perfect right to stay with few conditions just as Brits in Germany pre Brexit do and many are here through invitation by the gvt and legal visas over the years, particularly post Brexit - the right wing has managed to whip up the hysteria around asylum seekers and ‘illegals’ - yes there are some and more than their should be and the gvt is very well aware of this and looking at ways of cutting this by legal means - what’s the proposal by these folks ? Shoot em on arrival? Maybe they shouldn’t have voted for a situation that makes returning to where they set off from more difficult.
the ones in Dubai are legally there, actively sought to work there, they are not asylum seekers!!

I think you are on the wrong thread?

Again that's just not true. The extreme heat lasts from July to the end of September or early October and it's just not possible to spend time outside. It's not just the temperatures, there is a blanket of humidity that descends that makes outdoors unbearable. At the height of Summer we couldn't even dry clothes outside as the humidity was so extreme they wouldn't dry.

What are the lack of ‘human rights’ that keep being thrown around?

The summer is awful. I left Dubai in October with severe Vit D deficiency. It wasn’t possible to be outdoors enough to get sufficient sunlight.