Woman held in Dubai with daughter after drinking wine on flight

People should be able to in a free and democratic society like ours, as long as it's not going to jeopardize a trial or something.

But when you are in a foreign country with some draconian laws you have to abide by those laws.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
It was reported that she became argumentative, as was her filming which in its own right is a serious offence.
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So you don't know she was yelling at him then... the filming happened after he told her that she'd committed a criminal offence by drinking a glass of wine on the plane.

Seemingly he'd just gotten the visa rules wrong (if she is in fact allowed to buy one there, she did too by assuming her in date visa could be used more than once) and was about to send her back on a another long haul flight with a 4 year old... it isn't all that out of the ordinary that she might question that.
 
dowie said:
So you don't know she was yelling at him then... the filming happened after he told her that she'd committed a criminal offence by drinking a glass of wine on the plane.

Seemingly he'd just gotten the visa rules wrong (if she is in fact allowed to buy one there, she did too by assuming her in date visa could be used more than once) and was about to send her back on a another long haul flight with a 4 year old... it isn't all that out of the ordinary that she might question that.
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Heh, I wouldn’t question it in Dubai.

I doubt she politely asked and then he decided to lock her up.
 
I didn't claim she politely asked, I just pointed out you don't know that she yelled. You can argue with someone, be assertive etc.. without yelling. She'd just got off a long flight with a kid I don't doubt she might not have been happy but that isn't a reason to lock someone up. He's then pulled the alcohol thing on her knowing full well that plenty of people will have had a drink on the plane.

Would be interesting to see the footage, though presumably there is a good chance they made her delete it.
 
I've been to Dubai 5 times. My dad lived in Abu Dhabi for 7 years and has just got back from a stint in Bahrain and Saudi.

Women (and men) fall out of bottomless brunches and ladies nights on a daily basis. I've even seem a couple having sex in a condominium's shared pool. As has been said, there's always more to stories like this, and it may never be known or admitted.
 
Well we already know some of the "more" bit - she had an invalid visa and argued with an official then filmed him when he brought up the alcohol thing, told her she'd broken the law.

Yes plenty of people get drunk over there but they're still breaking the law and it isn't exactly that uncommon for westerners to get locked up for breaking this law, usually when they draw attention to themselves in some other way (in this case a woman who doesn't want to endure another long haul flight with her daughter arguing back at an official).

Someone who they suspect is muslim could be at greater risk of getting some heat for drinking over there. Likewise if you're Jewish or if you're say have dual Iranian nationality then you could be treated badly by officials too.
 
When I'm in Dubai I hang out with locals and it's pretty much the same as the UK but with quite simply zero crime or street litter.

I left my laptop in an unlocked car (with the car keys!) for a whole day.

Try doing that in the UK.

The flipside of course is obvious and stories like this don't help people's image of the Middle East. I doubt the UK detention areas are luxury hotels but I do agree on this story the condition reports sound extreme and vindictive.

But from what I know of previous stories there's usually more to it.

And I don't think the UK immigration folk are too different - my bro and his dirty foreigner girlfriend have almost been refused UK entry before even though he's a UK citizen and she's far within the visa-free stay requirements. Think 30+min questioning in your second/third language after over 20 hours travelling with previous visit history and all the right documentation, and me waiting the other side.
 
I was under the impression that you're not in a country until you've cleared passport control /security, so the wine drinking on the plane would be irrelevant?
 
So in this thread we have people who use red tops as their source of information vs people who have actually been to said country.

Unsure who I should believe :o
 
Basically, don't go to anywhere in this part of the world if your a women. You have no freedoms or rights there. Women aren't even safe in police custody.

As a guy your a lot safer, but you really can't mess about because even petty things can land you in prison.
 
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Nasher said:
Basically, don't go to anywhere in this part of the world if your a women. You have no freedoms or rights there. Women aren't even safe in police custody.

As a guy your a lot safer, but you really can't mess about because even petty things can land you in prison.
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Weird how literally thousands of women from around the world live and work in Dubai though isn't it. And millions of tourists visit every year, either flying through on the airlines or staying in country.

Believe it or not the national dress and call to prayer aren't mandatory, and all the offices and malls are like anywhere else in the world. But cleaner, nicer, and full of mostly happier people. Some of them boss around servants, some of them will get offended if you do X item which would be brushed off in the UK, but maybe it's best to not act like an idiot in the first place.

There are actually multiple legal systems - it's a little complex but in reality there's international business law, federal law and local state (eg Dubai) law. The Dubai courts can be known to be strict but if 92% of your population was tourists/expats who would otherwise have no regard for your country (look at Thai tourist areas, Vegas, Magaluf, you name it), wouldn't you keep them in line as best you could? Sharia law-type punishments are rare.

Obviously some laws are old-fashioned etc but they are trying to go in the right modern direction.

Finally someone else said the UAE is sanctioned. It's actually Qatar, sanctioned by the UAE and others. Who's right I don't really know or care.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
But instead she became self entitled, yelled at the immigration officer and then started recording him. Plenty of other countries would do the same. She got what she deserved.
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Where does it say she yelled at the immigration officer? So far I've only read that he was;
dismissive and rude
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I've met a few immigration officers like that over the years. Luckily there was no complications so had hardly any interaction.

From what I've read the situation escalated from the immigration officer not being reasonable.

I've read other stories where I would agree the people can become self entitled (there was a video last week showing a woman slapping an immigration officer across the face). But from what I've read in this situation it doesn't seem to be the case.
 
Destination said:
In every airport anywhere in the world where i have been, and that is many places, every single immigration and customs zone has signs to suggest filming is prohibited.
Everywhere.
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It's almost like it's possibly common or a standard security and privacy thing.
 
I dont think there is a country in the world that has sensible immigration officers, try getting arsey with a UK or US immigration officer, it wont be a pleasant experience. Ive been interrogated for 2 hours in the past, for having 2k on me, its well within the limit to takeout of the country, but if someone wants to make your life difficult, they will.
 
So latest report is that she swore at them and photographed them. Haha, has she not been to the UAE before?

Tinders said:
I dont think there is a country in the world that has sensible immigration officers, try getting arsey with a UK or US immigration officer, it wont be a pleasant experience. Ive been interrogated for 2 hours in the past, for having 2k on me, its well within the limit to takeout of the country, but if someone wants to make your life difficult, they will.
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Yup, a friend of mine was interviewed by US immigration for 6 hours for absolutely no reason. Fortunately his boss stepped in and he was released immediately. Most importantly you remain calm and polite or they can really screw with you.
 
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