Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

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Capetonian

Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#1 Post by Capetonian » Thu Nov 17, 2016 6:16 am

I am frequently asked why Emirates is one of the three airlines on my no-fly list.

Yes, it's rather a good airline, offers cheap fares, extra baggage, superb IFE, and the crews are generally top notch. One does have to question why an airline can consistently offer lower fares than its competitors. Those crews are worked to the maxima though (arguably, beyond), don't have much in the way of protection, and working and living conditions are far from ideal, but it's a 'glamorous' airline so they grin and bear it for a while.

Even if that weren't the case, it's clearly impossible to fly EK without a transit of DXB (other than a handful of 5th Freedom routes they operate), and it really is a vile place. Whilst the false vulgar kitsch and the 'luxury' hotels, built and serviced by slaves living in pretty poor conditions, may be to the taste of some, it's the utter hypocrisy of the place that makes me sick.

I have absolutely nothing against alcohol, sex, or prostitution in any of its forms or disguises, but here we have an Islamic regime, where sex outside marriage and alcohol are forbidden, but which espouses and encourages tourism based on sex and alcohol, where the bars of the international hotels are full of prostitutes from all over the world, and an equally international variety of clients.

Here's a typical example of 'justice' at work:

A British tourist allegedly gang-raped in Dubai faces a prison sentence and needs £24,000 for legal fees after police accused her of having "extra-marital sex".

The 25-year-old woman was reportedly arrested and charged after going to the authorities about the alleged attack by two Britons last month.

She is now on bail, but is not allowed to leave the country and is said to be "absolutely terrified" of being imprisoned for breaching strict laws on sex.

The woman, who cannot be identified, was on holiday in Dubai when her ordeal unfolded, The Sun reported.
"She went to the police as the victim of one of the worst ordeals imaginable, but she is being treated as the criminal"family friend of alleged victim

She is said to have been lured into a hotel room by two British men, who are alleged to have both raped her while filming the attack.

The woman's family claimed the men flew home to Britain just hours later.

When she reported the attack to police, the alleged victim was then herself charged with having sex outside marriage.

In the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is the most populated city, it is illegal for married couples to have sex outside of wedlock.

It is also against the law for a single person to have sex with someone who is married.

The alleged victim has been released by police on bail, but her family said she needs £24,000 for legal fees.

"They have taken her passport as lawyers thrash it out," a family friend told the newspaper. "She is staying with an English family, but she is absolutely terrified.

"She went to the police as the victim of one of the worst ordeals imaginable, but she is being treated as the criminal."

Etiquette in Dubai

Travellers to Dubai, and other Middle Eastern countries, cannot behave as they would in the Med. Drinking, or being drunk, is not permitted in public, rude gestures and swearing are likely to see you deported, and women are expected to cover up unless they’re at the beach.

Public displays of affection are also frowned upon, and there have been several arrests for kissing in public.


Another example of 'justice':
A South African doctor detained in the United Arab Emirates on a decade-old manslaughter charge has returned home after nine months in limbo, declaring: "It's wonderful to be out of that bloody place."

Cyril Karabus, 78, had been convicted without his knowledge of killing a young leukaemia patient in Abu Dhabi in 2002. He was arrested in Dubai last August while in transit to South Africa from Canada.

Karabus was acquitted in March but endured countless setbacks and bureaucratic wrangling before finally boarding a flight to Cape Town, where he was greeted with wild cheers and tearful hugs from family members and supporters.

A leading paediatric oncologist, he helped save the lives of black cancer victims during the apartheid era and pioneered treatment for cancer and blood disorders at the Red Cross hospital in Cape Town, where he worked for 35 years.

Karabus had gone to Abu Dhabi for a six-week stint during which he treated a three-year-old Yemeni girl. She had a form of leukaemia with an 80% death rate at the time, he recalled. "It happens. I've had a lot of kids dying of cancer. It wasn't me that killed her, it was the disease."

He left the UAE because his contract had finished and resents that the charge sheet later described him as a "fugitive" who jumped the country. "The case record had 16 lies in it. It's absolute garbage. You cannot believe the rubbish written there. It's not exactly the best legal system."

That would have been the end of the matter but for a fateful decision to travel through Dubai when returning to South Africa after attending his son's wedding in Canada. Ruefully explaining his choice of airline and route, Karabus said: "The Emirates fares are usually better than most."

With time to kill before their connecting flight, Karabus and his family went through immigration to look for an airport hotel. It was then he suddenly found himself under arrest. "You're totally shocked and you're not sure what the hell they're talking about."

Karabus was granted bail at the fifth attempt but, denied his passport, was forced to remain within the country.

He blamed the endless delays on "bloody incompetence", adding that it had taken 10 hours to obtain an exit visa over Wednesday and Thursday.

The father of five intends to resume working as a locum. But he will not be going back to UAE in a hurry. "Never again. It's a family dictatorship. Nobody is critical of government in public or the local newspapers. It's not the greatest place to be in trouble."


The press is replete with articles about the double standards :

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/ ... ostitution
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... crisy.html
http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-br ... sy-1574995

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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#2 Post by unifoxos » Thu Nov 17, 2016 9:58 am

Couldn't agree more. Only used them once, UK to Oz, have to say the a/c were totally satisfactory and the staff as good as or better than any other airline, but both SWMBO and myself take pain-killers that are illegal there and I'm not taking any risks. Next time to Oz/Nz we are going westwards and we'll put up with the septic issues instead.
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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#3 Post by Capetonian » Fri Nov 18, 2016 6:43 am

I would seriously question why anyone, least of all a female, would set foot in that festering hellhole, unless of course she's a prostitute, a category of visitor that the Dubai authorities appear to welcome since their presence boosts their tourism industry.

A UK-based charity has warned that British tourists and expats in Dubai and across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) should not report incidents of rape after a woman who was allegedly gang raped was arrested and charged with “extramarital sex”.

Detained in Dubai, an organisation that assists people who have become victims of injustice in the UAE, has warned against reporting rape or other crimes in the country because of the “manipulation when it comes to criminal accusations” and the “racist” preconceptions held against Western tourists.


If you're shocked by a woman being arrested after reporting gang-rape in Dubai, you should know how common these cases are

Incidences like this are not uncommon in the glitzy Gulf, which wants you to think it's more liberal than it is. South African national Roxanne Hillier was jailed for seven months after it was alleged she spent time alone with her male employer – even after medical reports showed they hadn't had sex

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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#4 Post by GrumpyOldFart » Sat Nov 19, 2016 6:32 pm

Why would anyone willingly visit such a stone-age shithole run by psycopathic savages? I can't believe a grown-up with more than two brain cells can be so blissfully
unaware of the laws of ME countries.
The older I get, the grumpier I get.
I may soon have to start biting people. X(

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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#5 Post by Fliegenmong » Wed Nov 30, 2016 12:50 pm

Yep.....My 'national' flag carrier now has code shares from Oz to Europe with Emirates....only city served by their own metal beyond dubai now is London...

Last time to Europe.....I went through Singapore and Helsinki....why? well apart from the stuff posted above....which is abhorrant....there is also the time zone factor...who wants to do 14+ hours ex east coast Aust. ...wait a connection and on from there!??...I certainly do not!! Far better to go up through SE Asia, but more so coming back...break the trip with some time in SE Asia....and overnight or have the option of a day flight (!!!!) back to East Coast Aust. .... Simple stuff really....We give the ME the 'Big Swerve'.....

My only experience with it was in the 80's with CX....HKG-LGW flights that would refuel in BAH....standing in the doorway listening to the skull shattering noise of Gulf Air L-1011s departing BAH, before reboarding past security officials that all looked like Saddam Hussein carrying AK-47s.... FINNAIR is the preferred carrier (QF code share BNE-SIN & CX codeshare HKG-BNE) for us if we travel to Europe....the flight/s from HEL to other parts of Europe are not of concern...easily done..
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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#6 Post by Sisemen » Wed Nov 30, 2016 2:25 pm

What I fail to understand about Dubai is why you have to go through the scanners and search after deplaning when you're not going off the airport precinct but are awaiting a connecting flight. And then you're bloody well checked again before boarding the next leg. Pisses I off it does!

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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#7 Post by unifoxos » Wed Nov 30, 2016 5:39 pm

And parking the arriving a/c, bussing you to one end of the terminal building, making you walk all the way to the other end of the building to your departure gate, then bussing you back to an a/c parked right next to the one you have just got off.
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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#8 Post by Capetonian » Tue Mar 07, 2017 6:28 pm

From Dubai, perhaps the biggest whorehouse on the planet, comes this story. Sex outside marriage is fine as long as it comes from prostitution and drinking so that the regime benefits. A normal couple in a relationship end up being arrested.

'Only thing they did wrong, was fall in love' - mom of man arrested in UAE for premarital sex

Dubai - A South African and his fiancée have been arrested in the United Arab Emirates because the woman is pregnant.

The Department of International Relations and Co-operation says there is nothing it can do for Emlyn Culverwell, 29, and his 27-year-old fiancée, Iryna Nohai, who is originally from the Ukraine.

They were arrested in Abu Dhabi on January 29 on a charge of having sex before marriage, an offence in the UAE.

Linda Culverwell, a Port Alfred resident, told Netwerk24 that her son and Iryna had got engaged on January 27. That Sunday, Iryna developed stomach cramps and Emlyn took her to the Medeor medical centre. A doctor found that she was pregnant and informed the authorities, upon which the couple was arrested.

Linda said Emlyn’s dad Karl had, to date, received no answers from the authorities in Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s embassy in South Africa, or South African consulate there.
"Every time we try to get information, it feels as though I’m hitting a brick wall," said Linda.
“We don’t even know if they have legal representation.”

Linda said the Ukrainian embassy had become involved and was trying to obtain permission for the two to get married or for them to be deported.

Emlyn’s employer, Yas Waterworld, told his family that formal charges had not been brought yet, because Iryna was apparently undergoing "further tests" to determine how long she’d been sexually active.

"For heaven’s sake, how can they supposedly determine that? It must feel as if she is being raped by the authorities'

Linda said she was worried that Iryna’s "stomach cramps" could have been signs of a miscarriage, as she was still in the early stages of her pregnancy.

"I can imagine the hell she is going through. It must feel as if she is being raped by the authorities."

She said her son was a fitness fanatic who didn’t even drink or smoke.

"The only thing they did which was wrong, was to fall in love. It makes no sense.

"We are trying to get messages to the two to say we love them and that they shouldn’t be worried... what concerns me most, is that we actually haven’t got a clue how they are. All the Department of International Relations is prepared to say is that we have ‘to be patient’, but there are three lives at stake here."

A spokesperson for the department, Nelson Kgwete, said the couple was being prosecuted in terms of UAE laws and that the South African government could do nothing about it.

"The South African government is aware of the case, but unfortunately cannot provide legal assistance. As [the] department all we can do is monitor the situation and try to ensure that they are fairly treated."

Foreigners were often prosecuted in terms of the UAE’s morality laws, Kgwete said.

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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#9 Post by Ex-Ascot » Fri Mar 10, 2017 6:22 am

Our annual trip JNB-ATH inevitably goes via the ME. We have tried BA via LHR it was expensive and took longer. We tried to support Olympic and three weeks before the flight they told us the times had changed, No probs we thought we always leave some flex for connecting flights etc but not three days! Two years ago we flew Qatar. More than a certain number of hours in transit with EK 1st or business you get a hotel room. They refused and we were left in the lounge for 12 hours. Sorry but it is EK every time for us now. ***** airline to work for but the best to fly with. We just grit our teeth in DXB. Most contact there is with the underpaid slaves not the rag heads so it is bearable for the short time we are there for.

I was also worried that I was on the hit list for poking one of the many Royal Princes in the chest for messing me about but obviously they didn't get my name as we have been through there many times since without incident.
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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#10 Post by Capetonian » Wed May 17, 2017 5:38 am

Classy, the type of people who travel on Emirates. Not the airline's fault, but the type of people that they and the destination attract.
A drunken businesswoman who called a young family 'f***ing s**ts' on a flight from Dubai and told crew to 'give me some f***ing alcohol' has been fined nearly £1,000.
Barbara Granger, 46, had downed five glasses of wine when she began verbally abusing other passengers sitting in the row in front of her.

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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#11 Post by Pontius Navigator » Sat Jul 08, 2017 7:25 am

We were innocents and planned a two day layover end route Cape Town. Stayed in a reasonable hotel, apartment building adjoining and an ice rink and shops.

Watched a couple of girls, micro minis and ash blonde hair, entering through the apartment entrance for night work, all the Indian shop keepers smiling chatting and ogling. Next morning o'dark hundred waiting for out taxi, we saw them leaving.

Taxi was very late, had his phone switched off, but concierge service was superb and called a different cab but just as ours turned up. Got to the airport and he just dumped our luggage. We gave him a tip: don't be so f***ing rude.

The boarding our flight, upgraded to business class :) Noticed that seat belts were optionalk up front.

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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#12 Post by Capetonian » Sat Jul 08, 2017 8:04 am

"ash blonde"
Is that a redhead who's had the fire poked out of her?

Friends of mine flew to JNB recently on Scummirats for the umpteenth time. For the umpteenth time they said 'never again', but they keep going back because it's cheap and they get more checked baggage than other carriers give in pleb class. I am delighted that EK keep so many people off the other carriers.

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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#13 Post by Pontius Navigator » Sat Jul 08, 2017 9:25 am

Capetonian, what did you do to earn a transfer to this select forum.

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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#14 Post by Capetonian » Sat Jul 08, 2017 9:44 am

A lot, but my last shot was to answer back to Wanking Wobbie after he banned me for defending apartheid on the basis that the majority of South Africans were better off prior to 1994 than they are now. Like most bullies and cowards, he doesn't like people who fight back, so he did the only thing he could, which was to restrict my access. I am not officially 'banned' as they don't do that, I just got a 'time out' when I tried to log in.

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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#15 Post by Pontius Navigator » Sat Jul 08, 2017 1:05 pm

Oh there are people that come up banned

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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#16 Post by Cacophonix » Tue Jul 11, 2017 12:56 pm

Capetonian wrote:A lot, but my last shot was to answer back to Wanking Wobbie after he banned me for defending apartheid on the basis that the majority of South Africans were better off prior to 1994 than they are now. Like most bullies and cowards, he doesn't like people who fight back, so he did the only thing he could, which was to restrict my access. I am not officially 'banned' as they don't do that, I just got a 'time out' when I tried to log in.


Of course, Rob, to some degree, was right to point out that your subjective view on apartheid is at best an opinion based on no empirical evidence at all and at worst a prejudice!

As for restricting your access for holding such an opinion, such action and approach is woeful in the extreme and is exactly what the old protagonists of apartheid were wont to do!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_subject_to_banning_orders_under_apartheid

And a much larger group were forced into exile...

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Fined for having sex in the biggest brothel on the planet

#17 Post by Capetonian » Sat Jul 22, 2017 8:50 pm

A British woman and Pakistani man have been sentenced to one-year in prison for having an affair while on a trip to Dubai.
The pair had met on Facebook and became acquainted with one another for three years before she flew to stay with him for a week in Dubai in 2016, when they had consensual sex.
Having sex outside of marriage is strictly prohibited in the UAE, and those who take part in extramarital relationships face prison sentences and deportation.

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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#18 Post by OFSO » Tue Aug 01, 2017 12:58 pm

Does having a spontaneous bonk with a person you've just met constitute a 'relationship' ? If not, how many instances of orifice penetration does one have to indulge in before constituting one ? I know oral sex doesn't count, Bill Clinton said so.

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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#19 Post by Alisoncc » Fri Aug 04, 2017 6:43 am

Absolutely no originality either. Just saw on the news that they've tried to replicate the Grenfell fire. How sick can you get?

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Re: Why Dubai is so vile, despicable, and reprehensible

#20 Post by Slasher » Thu Aug 24, 2017 6:14 pm

The simplest all-purpose rule to stay out of trouble in any* part of the FME is easy to remember: DON'T FCUK WITHOUT A LICENCE!

* Except Bahrain. You can do whatever the hell you want there.

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