Marcus, from Tottenham, North London, had been enjoying a holiday with his parents when he met a fellow Brit at the same hotel. A holiday fling sparked and the pair spent time together until the girl, also from London, flew back to Britain.
In Dubai, if an adult has a sexual relationship with a person under 18, they can be prosecuted for having a sexual relationship with a minor. The relationship would be legal in the UK.
Marcus and his parents were set to fly back shortly after - but their plans were thrown into chaos when police knocked on their hotel room door. The “terrified” teenager was then reportedly hauled in for questioning without any explanation and held at the Al Barsha Police Station, DID said. He spent three days there, during which time he was not allowed to make a phone call or speak with his parents, it is claimed.
Yes, UAE is an authoritarian dictatorship surveillance state that not accountable to its people and meddles in multiple foreign wars and runs its own mini Guantanamo. All of this is true. BUT the above comments that they’re tracking people to see if they’re having sex and arresting them for it is simply false. Not every dictatorship has morality police, and UAE certainly doesn’t. The police are well aware of the drugs and prostitution in Dubai and let it happen. Can we all agree on this? Because I don’t want to defend this dictatorship, but this conversation always circles back to generic racism against Arabs (as if they’re all like Saudi or Taliban) and Islamophobia (since people assume the religion is at fault despite UAE being a secular dictatorship) and I’m trying to make that distinction here.
I can agree with money and proper handling you can do most anything there.
I can also acknowledge the state sponsored shadow class of people who have zero autonomy (like ability travel or marry at will) and the razor thin line of favor that can yeet you from the candy coated liberal fun ride into full on authoritarian handling, for almost zero reason but political displeasure. I will also acknowledge that that isn’t exactly what happened here, but my (not sure if in this chain) comment that they surveil and interview for infractions is unchanged.
In closing I’ll clarify I have no ill will towards those of Arab decent but all religion can fuck right off, it’s a vehicle for oppression and nothing more. I’m not islamiphobic , I’m just aware of what the presence of religion always means. I agree that they are officially secular, but it bears discussion that they are heavily influenced by Islamic motivated norms (for example Muslim women there cannot marry a non Muslim, but Muslim men can marry out), which is literally always distasteful. Same as in America with evangelicals.
I don’t like being made to defend anything UAE does, they’re a corrupt dictatorship with racism and classism. But blaming any of their idiocy on religion is stupid; the rulers don’t follow any of it and they’re secular because there’s nothing in the religion authorizing their behavior.
Islam grants specific minimum human rights; and women are enshrined some specific rights like the right to their own property and who they choose to marry etc. Other religions lack these, so a Muslim woman marrying into a non Muslim family can’t be guaranteed those protections as well as the worldwide custom that the husband choose the religion to raise the children (this is in all cultures and religions), so as a result of all these reasons it’s considered a sin as well as a bad idea for a Muslim woman to marry a non-Muslim man. Its a reality even if you find the de facto reality distasteful.