Let's be clear about this...

The theme of expats falling foul of the laws rumbles on with a opinion piece by Sultan Al Qassemi in The National today. In my opinion it's one of the most sensible columns on the subject so far.

Sultan mentions some recent cases that have hit the world's media, including the text messaging case, the Bob's Diner kissing case, the beach sex case and the alleged rape in a five star hotel. I've posted about them previously but it's worth looking at them briefly here because they're actually quite different from each other.

Sex on a beach, or anywhere in public, isn't going to be tolerated in any country, so that falls outside the debate about what's acceptable in Dubai.

The alleged rape case was a mixture - the stories said that a woman's report of being raped was ignored and instead she was charged with illicit sex with her fiance. In fact she wasn't ignored and when CCTV footage proved she had not been raped she admitted that she couldn't remember the evening and withdrew the complaint. It is true that she and her fiance were charged with illicit sex.

The text messaging case certainly is about what's acceptable in Dubai and how things are dealt with. I posted about it here.

The kissing case was also about what's acceptable here - and also about the justice system, which I posted about here.

Sultan's column includes four extremely important points.

One, the ambiguity surrounding the whole question of what is and is not acceptable. The column is headed "Nothing should be ambiguous about what’s indecent"

Two, the country needs to decide what it wants to be.

Three, there is a vacuum of information regarding what is and isn’t officially acceptable.

Four, the inconsistency of court sentences.

That's something I've posted about several times, a minor misdemeanor attracting a longer jail term than a serious offence. As Sultan points out, a kiss is not a hazard to others' lives, as drunk driving is. He asks how both can be punishable by a jail sentence.

I would add another point - enforcement. If you have rules and laws you must enforce them, not routinely allow people to ignore them as happens here on a daily basis.

Looking at these important points, ambiguity and the resulting confusion is a real problem.

Comments left on my posts on the subject invariably include 'when in Rome do as the Romans do', accepting that a country has the right to to its own laws but expressing confusion about what is and is not acceptable.

Innocent public displays of affection are an offence yet prostitutes operate openly on the streets of Deira and Bur Dubai, in hotels and even in malls.

There is a dress code yet the malls are full of men in football shorts & singlets and women in revealing clothing.

Alcohol is legally available, the Friday drunken brunches are legendary, yet you can be jailed for drinking alcohol.

No wonder there's both confusion and criticism.

All of this has to be sorted out and Sultan's most important point in my opinion is that the country has to decide what it wants to be. Not just to clarify the situation for expats and visitors but, more importantly, for Emiratis.

As he says, "It is no longer possible to expect that these issues will sort themselves through a policy of ambiguity".

He wants Emiratis brought into the conversation as stakeholders in the future and shape of their country. He says, ideally this is the role of the Federal National Council because it should be the voice of the citizens.

He also wants more media involvement: "the local fourth estate can play the role of the parliament by debating what citizens deem acceptable".

That's critical. Decide what you want to be, then within that framework write the laws.

But they must be consistent and hypocrisy must be removed from the equation.

To tell people that holding hands is indecent while turning a blind eye to prostitution simply won't do. To jail people for 'planning a sin' because sex outside marriage is illegal but allowing thousands of unmarried couples to share hotel rooms won't do.

These inconsistencies in what's said and what actually happens 'won't do' not just for foreigners but also for Emiratis. Surely they want consistent laws and enforcement of them as much as, probably more than, foreigners do.

By all means have laws that reflect the country's culture, and expect people to obey them, but there has to be consistency. If not, there is confusion, there are charges of hypocrisy, there is cynicism.

As for the vacuum of information, that's simple.

When the laws and rules are clearly written it's the simplest thing in the world to distribute them to travel agents, tour operators, airlines and to give a leaflet to everyone passing through an Immigration desk.


I think this is an important column by Sultan and I hope it generates urgent debate that results in the ambiguity and increasing confusion being resolved. You can read it here.


Just In

As I was typing this an e-mail came in from a friend on a related subject so I thought I'd add it.

It's about ambiguity, confusion, statements and rethinks, and 'clarifications'.

According to Arabian Business, Dubai Municipality has issued a letter stating that the use of alcohol in the preparation and cooking of food, and the display and sale of food containing alcohol is 'strictly prohibited'.

Not surprisingly it caused mass confusion in the industry leading to officials to rethink the ban. They are now set to issue revised restrictions on Tuesday, sources said.

If it happened once it would be funny but it's become the standard way of doing things.

Here, read it for yourself, I'm tired...

Here it is.