Human Rights Abuses in Dubai

You are absolutely right. We should be consistent though about this, lest we be called hypocrites. One must not appreciate any country in the Americas as they have been built on the literal subjugation and decimation of native peoples and their traditions.
And let us not forget Europe who has a very real history of brutal power and subjugation of peoples all over the world. In fact, that subjugation continue to this day with military, economic and political subjugation by the N Atlantic countries to this day.
In that sense, I cannot appreciate any building ever built because these empires are based on a brutal civilizing crusade, if you will, of the entire planet…

I have no words. I did not want to go before. Now – never!

Thanks for the article. There is a big difference between a country whose current mindset is to routinely exploit others and countries who have a history of this but now realize it’s wrong and truly try to make things different.

Its not just these “3rd world people” who have these issues in UAE, so do white and blond poor Europeans from Eastern Europe. The police in Dubai are notorious for covering up sex crimes, murdered prostitutes, violent disputes, and robberies to avoid bad press. Ever get robbed there? The police will refuse to take your “report” even for insurance purposes. Its actually kinda scary. A gay Saudi prince tried this in a London 5* hotel and the UK put him in jail. But if you had an affair with a wealthy or connected person there, who knows what they could do. You are safer on the streets of revolutionary Cairo than in a 5* UAE hotel with a jealous lover!

I’m in the minority but I tend to travel to countries that are rich in history with thousand of years of civilization. I am a budget traveler but not a backpacker or elite/premium tourist.I mostly stay at local hotels and dine in restaurants where locals frequent. I mingle with the locals to understand more about their culture, religion and perception about the world. I talk to ordinary citizens rather than those who work for big corporations or franchise businesses. We cannot compare our lives today to those that existed many centuries ago, except to learn from it and better ourselves in the 21st century. We probably do not want to lower our standards by rationalizing that if other countries do it, we need to jump on the bandwagon. I watched the documentary on PBS last Sunday on the sex industry in Dubai and Turkey. Kindly spare me character assassination. The main victims are white females from the former Soviet republics and East block countries. The main perpetrators are government officials, rich local males, British and American white tourists because they know they are untouchable by the judicial system and law enforcement. I lived in Kuwait for four years and am quite familiar with its culture. I do not recommend visiting the six Gulf countries in Mid-East:Kuwait, Saudi, Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Quatar. The former two countries do not allow tourists on the ground. Egypt, Jordan & Israel are the three must see countries but not in current volatile environment. Exotic places like Bali, Bora Bora, Maldives, Phunket, etc… are not on my list to visit, unless I come across an irresistable bonfire air ticket sales and tour guides deals.

I have had the privlidge of working in neighboring Abu Dhabi many times. You see some of these injustices often hidden in plain sight. Housing compounds you drive by, construction workers in 115 degree heat. They soon become easy to ignore and lost in the city chaos. Much like how we conveniently forget where our iPads came from. And yes, you hear stories of police corruption, maybe even see suspicious activity in the fourth floor lounge of a five star resort. And people justifiably ask how I can continue to travel there and support the UAE.

Well first, I do believe in the Emirates and that most of them are good people who don’t support these human rights violations. Guilty of turning a blind eye perhaps, but don’t condemn a nation for the acts of a few. Also, for every company profiting off cheap labor I like to think that maybe, just maybe a few are thre to make good. I’m proud to hear my company refused to break ground on a new site without negotiating the living conditions of workers in advance. I loved hearing of a coworkers 2hr drive in the desert to ensure our security guards were in adequate housing and loved it even more when she demanded they be moved because the apartments weren’t up to her standards.

Perhaps I am naive and focusing too heavily on the good and seeing change for the better in he midst of lots of darkness. But for me, that’s what traveling is all about. Finding my own experiences in a foreign land, and usually not finding what I expected.