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.
You Europeans really gotta stop vacationing in fucking Dubai, there are way cooler places to fly to.
It’s fucking Dubai… Why would you want to go there?
A monument to man’s arrogance, literal slaves, rampant misogyny, homophobia Yada Yada. Terrifying laws based on ultra conservative religions. Routinely one of the hottest places in the world and extremely expensive.
Just fucking why?
My guess is that the bri’ish family is either composed of rich assholes wanting to show off they’re rich, or of scammers that still haven’t got caught. Seriously, that city is a magnet for scammers to spend money on.
Because for some people those are features.
But for people who those are features, they are very likely to be Muslim or at the least Arabic and therefore, probably somewhat similar to their home.
I’m saying for a westerner, to think you can go the and have a great time safely, you’re deluded.
But for people who those are features, they are very likely to be Muslim or at the least Arabic
Uh, I don’t think so. Perhaps very specifically the religious laws, but besides that you don’t have to look far among westerners to find those for whom…
man’s arrogance, literal slaves, rampant misogyny, homophobia […] one of the hottest places in the world and extremely expensive
… are rather a nice prospect, actually.
This place is so backwards.
Let’s look the past the fact you’re a moron, attempting to make a point on behalf of your brother’s in christ, the gays.
And let’s dive in.
Are there homophobic and misogynistic westerners who like slaves? Absolutely.
Now have a think how many of them also like Muslims and the middle east and want to go to a Muslim country with no alcohol that judges them?
Sshhhhhhh child, no more talking.
Lmao the “shh child” such a bad boy
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In its glory days, Britain had plenty of warm spots.
Yeah like Jamaica! An infinitely better place to vacation than Dubai.
I have the same mindset against Dubai and would never visit it. That said I know a perfectly normal colleague who has been there with his family 2 or 3 times and said he would probably go there again. Don’t recall why they liked it there that much.
You just can’t get the same calibre of mouth-shitting instagram whores anywhere else.
100%, I hated every minute of my layover wandering that shit-quality SimCity attempt, the bubble popped real fast once I talked to some locals.
I can’t wait for the sand to bury that cruel slave labor shitberg.
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‘Please tell my family in Pakistan that I’m still alive’ probably
“The restaurants are mid.”
The only good reason to be there is a connecting flight
My dad got there. They literally brainwashed him within a week. We had to prove him on multiple accounts that the tour guide lied to him.
elaborate omg??
I don’t know details anymore (10+ years ago) but in the vein of the economy being great and important, culture open minded, politics being exemplary, that stuff.
Or just don’t fly.
Literally
- Cairo
- Antioch
- Muğla
- Baghdad
- Umman
Like, you know, rest of the Europe
I will never understand why this place is idolized by so many people…
Or why you’d even vacation there. How tf did they convince people to vacation in a desert?
FOMO. makes it seem exclusive. For whatever reason at least 50% of humans are just wired to want to feel better than everyone else. The actual experience itself doesn’t matter as long as they can brag about it knowing that others weren’t able to achieve it. Dubai literally has ice shipped in from melting glaciers so that rich people can put it into their drink https://arcticice.ae/
Seriously, it’s like worse Vegas, and I don’t like Vegas at all
I’d like Vegas if there was like an airconditioned pedway to walk around the strip out of the heat and away from the crazies but still be able to observe like a human zoo.
Really? I loved Vegas and can’t wait to go back. Full disclosure though I’m not really a gambler and we didn’t hit the casinos at all but there’s some really cool stuff in that area.
It’s way better than Vegas, at least they maintain the place. Vegas reminded me of a junkyard full of crackheads and flashy lights.
Vegas wasn’t built by slaves.
Vegas is run by people paid below minimum wage.
Cute. They took the passports of Indians who traveled there to build it.
And employers in Vegas threaten the immigrants with deportation if they complain to any authorities about the work conditions. Stop pretending Vegas is somehow good in any way.
And yes, Dubai has bad working conditions too.
A bit of an unwarranted answer, but many richer Pakistanis go there to buy stuff that isn’t easily available back home. Hence, they become cash cows for the ginormous malls over there (seriously. If you think American malls are big, you haven’t been to Dubai). It’s basically the closest foreign city we have direct flights to, due to our sanctions and all with India. For example, I got my Nintendo 3DS, and later the phone that I’m currently using (Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra), from malls in Dubai.
How much are plane tickets? Flying somewhere to buy things is weird to my brain.
They were undoubtedly cheaper before, but with a low-budget airline like airblue, at least, a round-trip ticket between Lahore and Dubai, for a single adult, economy class, can cost 85,216 PKR or 306.23 USD.
Choosing a more expensive airline like Emirates bumps it up to 138,028 PKR or 496.01 USD.
(Source: Google Flights)
To be fair, my father at least would often buy stuff while he had another reason to be there (i.e. for business).
Well if you’re an American, it might start making more sense to you in a few months when we have fucking 100% tariffs on imported shit (or whatever the fuck he’s going to do).
If you are talking about social media it is likely that they aren’t allowed to post something negative about the country or else you can be fined. If you are working as an influncer in Dubai you’ll need to obtain an license which regulates what you can post but you basically pay no income taxes
If you are working as an influncer in Dubai you’ll need to obtain an license which regulates what you can post but you basically pay no income taxes
Because the propaganda you’re providing for them would be priceless…
For the Middle East, it’s relatively progressive, from what I understand. That being said, that’s a low low bar.
I first thought you wrote “from the Middle East” yeah no. Dubai is Saudi Arabia with better PR.
If you have money
I should amend: if you’re there wilingly, it’s relatively progressive.
They have a pretty open love for western money. If you have the funds ($$$$$$$$), you can do pretty much whatever you want.
But if you aren’t extremely wealthy, you get to experience the oppressive true nature of the place.
Guess which group goes to Dubai and tells people about their experiences.
Money
Lotsa influencers get free shit when making positive content about it.
💰 💵💰
Paris is too passé nowadays, you can’t be an asshole showoff when the place is full of peasants
It’s a good place to launder money.
The kind of Europeans who only go to Spain, Amsterdam, and Dubai
What’s with Spain?
Is the answer prostitution?
Spain, Amsterdam, and Dubai
What makes those three fit together? I’ve been to Barcelona and Amsterdam, but wouldn’t dream of going to Dubai.
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Along with what everyone else said, it’s basically Las Vegas without the casinos and the booze, and with a beach.
If you don’t care about politics, gambling or drinking, it’s another theme park for adults.
Fuck Dubai.
Signed me, who grew up there.
Man I’d be interested to hear about that. Any interesting insights?
Like any hotspot for the wealthy: hypocrisy and corruption as far as the eye can see.
What was it like
Sorry for the delay.
The best way to describe Dubai in the late 80s and throughout the 90s was rapid fire change and building like there’s no tomorrow. When I was a kid back then most of the neighborhood where I grew up was still mostly sand lots with no building. It was actually a fairly nice place to live even then, but if you actually had interests in things as a kid you were kinda out of luck. There wasn’t that much to do back then or things to learn to do or clubs you could be a member of. Or maybe there were, but my parents weren’t aware of them.
However if you were a gamer, you were kinda in luck. I grew up with a Commodore 64 and later IBM 386 machine at home and we had no problems getting games for them (and most were pirated since software piracy was so incredibly rampant that people thought the originals were like a rare find). Console games were also sold in many places and Dubai in the 90s was LOUSY with Arcades. Like the principale place I would go to were arcades. Most were hinky-dink holes in the wall full of seedy assholes (not of the drug using variety… because possession of even small quantities of drugs can land you a very long sentence, even life), but if you got them to fuck off it was nice to immerse yourself in those machines.
However Dubai never felt like home. Not for me and not for many other people even if they were born there. This is in no small part owing to the fact that there is no birthright citizenship (with very limited exceptions of course), and also the fact that everyone you will know there is a foreigner who just came in to do a job and leave afterward. This even includes people like my dad who was in the country for nearly 30 years working as a computer engineer for various companies (he was paid very well for his services). The racism that exists there is also quite palatable. Nowadays they have hate crime and hate speech legislation that may or may not curb some people’s racist expressions, but back then, you basically had people who had no problem saying they would want nothing to do with ‘dirty people’ that was very thinly veiled racism. I was on the receiving end of a world of bullying and mistreatment from Indians, Filipinos, and Emaratis who all didn’t seem to compute it in their minds that I was fully human. The Indians were, to a large extent, the worse of the bunch in that regard. I had people stab my eyes and had been absent mindly cut by sharp objects from (they were being VERY negligent with their shit) and they reacted to me saying ‘you cut me! I’m bleeding!’ like someone would react to radio static. They simply did not understand why them phyiscally harming me would lead me to having an outburst against them.
In short, it was generally shit all around and I am glad I am not there anymore.
Dubai is a terrible place. People need to stop going there.
I even worry about transiting places like this.
We Pakistanis don’t have much of a choice… We often have to stop at Dubai or Doha if we want to fly to Europe or the Americas. (Although occasionally, you can choose Turkish Airlines and stop at Istanbul instead.) Though to be fair, Pakistan can’t be much more friendly than Dubai to a lotta people…
Hard to feel sorry about anyone travelling to Dubai.
Correct for adults, but this was the kid travelling with his parents. It’s likely that the decision was the parents’ - also, most kids are not very well-versed in politics.
I’m pretty sure his parents were the ones making the trip and he was forced to come along whether he wanted to or not what with him living under his parents’ roof.
You don’t have to be rich to travel there. My brothers and their mother traveled there, not rich by any means. I’m probably more well off, but I haven’t been there. 🤷♂️
But maybe that wasn’t your point? Sorry if I assumed incorrectly!
They meant traveling to a pseudo-religious dictatorship
Yes, definitely! People should be allowed to break the law of the land if they disagree with it!
/s
I mean… Okay. But… A place can be interesting to visit despite its government. 🤷♂️
That’s not what this is about. Can you understand what you read?
Can you not be a dick about it?
Agree, it was a bit snappy.
I guess you just wanted to be snappy and leave the conversation? Cool…
I… can, yes. Why does it seem like I can’t? Why don’t you fill me in? 🙏
No need to be so hostile. 👍
I think you’re right, but also it says something about the personality too. I know great, respectable people in their own way who have gone there, but in general I agree with the vibe that it’s for “rich people who don’t care about inequality”
This is only applicable to people who have a wide variety of choices to pick from - if you ca only choose Dubai because your parents worked there as expats then you’re probably in the clear.
Knowing my family, Hanlon’s razor definitely applies here. People do not always know what’s going on politically or otherwise in a tourist place they visit. My family are not “great respectable people” (they’re good people though), so I’m gonna go with ignorance, for sure. 😅
Not sure why this is down voted lol. I’m just sharing an experience or life situation, and getting down voted. So strange. I feel like I’m back on Reddit. People don’t change from platform to platform, I guess.
This doesn’t actually say much about anyone’s actual wealth status in your story, you’re just saying you have more then them I guess? No banana for scale offered.
“They only have 2 yachts and only one can land a full size helicopter - so yeah… you don’t have to be rich to go to Dubai”
I’m curious how the authorities were even aware of this occurring. The article says they were on holiday, so it’s not like there was much time. How did anyone notice their ages? Was it just fishing for a charge because of unrelated reasons?
Either
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They’re always watching. I’m in tech and was taught in my security training - when traveling to countries with extremely strong surveillance, assume you are bugged. Family could be high valued and they wanted something from the parents. Probably a bit too tinfoil hat.
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Vengeance girl’s parents could be assholes/racist. As a dude, Ive had my share of “mommy & daddy doesn’t like me for taking their precious flower”. Multiplier in effect if they have a problem that I’m a PoC.
It was the mother of the girl. She got back to the UK found out about the boy and contacted the Dubai authorities. Apparently the girl was days off her 18th birthday too. It was in the news report when he was originally arrested.
Wrecked a young man’s life for some bullshit reason.
Wow, 2 years older in mere days. Must be a leap year.
Sorry typo. Fixed
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