Emirates and alcohol

[Chukar]

Ran across this today:

https://www.news.com.au/travel/trav...t/news-story/bfe8481739e1b08a1dddbf6224326727

Anyone with Emirates experience care to comment? I was looking at using them but this has me concerned.

 

[rookhawk]

I've drank many drinks on Emirates airlines and I've purchased alcohol and cigars in the Dubai airport duty free. I find the entire story to be hogwash.

Public drinking in the UAE is not allowed, but certainly had much of it courtesy of Emirates airlines in the Dubai business class lounge.

She must have been absolutely vulgar to the police leading to her being taken for a ride, or she fabricated the whole thing...or she did something else we aren't aware of at present.

ZERO problems with Emirates or the UAE whatsoever. They are a conservative society so don't act like a western jackass (public affection, co-habitation with a non-spouse at their hotels, smoke/drink/eat in public during Ramadan, don't be nude on the beach, etc.etc.etc.)

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

There is definitely more to this story and I think it begins here:

Dr Holman’s nightmare began on July 13 when an official informed her that her visa had expired and she would have to return to London immediately.

But the thought of getting back on the long-haul flight with her young daughter was “unthinkable” and she got in a tense standoff with the officer.

She said the officer then began to quiz her over whether she had been drinking.

I don't believe she was detained for having drunk alcohol. I think that was the excuse for her to be detained due to her arguing about her visa. Right or wrong to be treated this way, I don't believe that wine had anything to do with the arrest. Alcohol is served on Emirates, and the airline is owned by the country. Furthermore there are bars in the Dubai airport, right out in the open like any other airport.

 

[rookhawk]

Reviewing the facts a bit more, it appears she did a few things wrong:

1.) She violated the law by entering UAE with an expired Visa.

2.) She got surly with the police/customs/immigration when told she needed to get on the next plane out of UAE because she was in effect, an illegal entrant to the nation.

3.) She escalated the situation so the police hit her with a drunk and disorderly charge because she was acting irrational while arguing that she shouldn't have to leave their country immediately because she was indeed, an illegal entrant into the UAE.

4.) She admitted to drinking so they were able to associate drinking with her belligerence AND her violation of their Visa requirements so they taught her a lesson.

This is really hard for spoiled westerners to understand....Dubai / UAE is a country of laws. They aren't guidelines, they are laws. Getting aggressive with law enforcement in a law-and-order country is a very, very stupid thing to do.

 

[Chukar]

OK, good to know. The link isn't the original article that I read and I don't think the original read mentioned the visa.

It had me scratching my head, I couldn't understand why the would have alcohol available on the flight if everyone was going to get popped on entry, although it could be a great revenue generator!

Thanks folks!

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

@Chukar,

I would add that the Dubai airport is arguably the cleanest I've ever been to. It serves as a crossroads to the world and seems to pride itself on treating travelers as humans and not as cattle, quite the opposite to say Liberty in Newark, NJ.

After having read about seriously misplaced rifle cases on Delta airlines, I'm all the more certain I will fly Emirates as much as I can. They take your rifle case quite seriously and ensure you and your rifle case do not get separated. I know this as I was held up from my connecting flight to Joburg from Dubai at the gate. The agent after scanning my boarding pass knew what I was carrying in checked luggage. She held me up while she made a phone call. Once the call was completed she told me why she had held me up. That minute or two that she took "holding me up" from boarding the plane was well worth it to me, as I boarded know my rifles were on the plane.

 

[markferrigno]

I lived in that region for 9 years, I am sure she was an ass to the immigration officials. If you act like that AND you have any booze on your breath you are done. I saw many folks get stitched up arguing over a few dollars with cab drivers. They smell booze and call the Police.You always have to remember where you are and that you are a guest with no rights.

Still doesn't excuse locking up a 4 y/o child, that is straight up 3rd world and many folks forget because the facade presented is 1st world.....

Alcohol laws are tricky in the UAE, non-muslims are allowed to be served but having any booze on your breath in public is illegal. Having any booze in your system while driving is DUI, the limit is zero. You CAN be arrested for having consumed alcohol but this usually only happens cause you did something to bring yourself to the attention of the Police.

 

[Hogpatrol]

"Three days later she was taken back to the airport and released on bail, but so far the situation has cost her more than $52,000 in legal fees, expenses and missed work.

“My passport remains confiscated until the case is settled, which I have been told will take at least a year,” Dr Holman said.

“My practice is closed. All our savings have gone.”

Spoiled, self centered, egotistical, narcissistic, naive ASSHOLE. Maybe she'll get lucky and be transferred to a Turkish prison. You gotta love it!

 

[wesheltonj]

More to this story, I have had booze and more then just a glass, and even more in the airport lounge (and this was during Ramadan) between flights and not a word was said.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

More to this story, I have had booze and more then just a glass, and even more in the airport lounge (and this was during Ramadan) between flights and not a word was said.

Probably because you didn't act like a jackass. Not acting like a jackass prevents so many issues in life.

 

[Chukar]

Original article, with only a brief blurb on the visa issue:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/ne...entist-daughter-in-jail/ar-BBLK3lv?li=BBnbfcL

Seems like it would have been cheaper for her to purchase that ticket back rather than pay what she claims to have paid.

 

[Hogpatrol]

Original article, with only a brief blurb on the visa issue:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/ne...entist-daughter-in-jail/ar-BBLK3lv?li=BBnbfcL

Seems like it would have been cheaper for her to purchase that ticket back rather than pay what she claims to have paid.

Both articles reek of fake news in a left leaning rag.

 

[mikeinarkansas]

You go to another country you play by their rules. If you don’t want to then stay home. And anywhere you are getting aggressive with law enforcement is a poor strategy. She broke their law and had an out of just going home and didn’t take it.

 

[sierraone]

When you are in their world, live by their rules or don't go. @PHOENIX PHIL and @rookhawk have it exactly right. Only been through Dubai once, but worked in Iraq and Kuwait for 4 1/2 years. Yes, children go to jail with their mothers in most cases of which I was familiar.

 

[Fred Gunner]

The Haqqani network, the militant partners of the Afghan Taliban, has received significant funding from UAE-based businesses. In January 2009, the US intelligence sources stated that two of Taliban's senior fundraisers travelled regularly to the UAE where the Haqqani networks and Taliban laundered money via local front companies.

The 9/11 Commission Report mentions the 'UAE' more than 70 times. The report states that several 9/11 hijackers travelled to the U.S. via Dubai while the funding "flowed through the UAE". The hijackers received funding from facilitators in the UAE who played the prime mediators in the attack.

A number of entities within the UAE have also allegedly funded notorious terrorist group Al-Qaeda. Dubai Islamic Bank has been implicated in funding the September 11 terror attacks, and claimants have brought legal action against the company for its role in the attacks.

That's good enough for me UAE is on my No-Fly-List...

 

[Hogpatrol]

You go to another country you play by their rules. If you don’t want to then stay home. And anywhere you are getting aggressive with law enforcement is a poor strategy. She broke their law and had an out of just going home and didn’t take it.

I spent time in a country where hanging your bare arm out of a moving car's door was cause for being pulled over and give a ticket. In another, running a red light got you a night in jail. I kept my arm inside and stopped for all yellow lights. When in Rome........

 

[BRICKBURN]

It appears she bought her holiday at full price.
No Visa and then argue with immigration.
You have to be nuts.

 

[Hogpatrol]

What is it with these dentists? First Cecil and now this?

 

[mdwest]

Ive done a lot of traveling to both Dubai and Abu Dhabi over the past 15 years or so.. (maybe 30-40 trips, spending anywhere from 2-3 days to 2-3 weeks there at a time)..

As a rule, anything you want to do is an option... there are plenty of nightclubs and bars where booze flows like a river... drugs.. prostitution.. gambling.. etc.. are all very easy to find if thats something youre into..

For the most part the local authorities will turn a blind eye... they really dont care much about what western expats do there..

that is.. until you are stupid..

The moment you act stupid.. even the smallest thing can get you thrown under the jail for a very long period of time..

The guy mentioned in this article used to work for me (he wasnt working for me at the time of his arrest)... He literally just said "what the f*ck" when someone in plain clothes grabbed by the arm while at the airport.. and then spent the next 3 months in a jail in Dubai...

https://www.news.com.au/travel/trav...r/news-story/5e43da65416126c6fd45eb1882642046

I very much enjoy the UAE.. but.. I know when I am there that I am on someone elses turf.. and it is best that I act respectfully, abide by their laws, and not act like an idiot at any time..

Acting respectfully has served me well.. I have yet to spend a night an a UAE jail...

 

[rookhawk]

The Haqqani network, the militant partners of the Afghan Taliban, has received significant funding from UAE-based businesses. In January 2009, the US intelligence sources stated that two of Taliban's senior fundraisers travelled regularly to the UAE where the Haqqani networks and Taliban laundered money via local front companies.

The 9/11 Commission Report mentions the 'UAE' more than 70 times. The report states that several 9/11 hijackers travelled to the U.S. via Dubai while the funding "flowed through the UAE". The hijackers received funding from facilitators in the UAE who played the prime mediators in the attack.

A number of entities within the UAE have also allegedly funded notorious terrorist group Al-Qaeda. Dubai Islamic Bank has been implicated in funding the September 11 terror attacks, and claimants have brought legal action against the company for its role in the attacks.

That's good enough for me UAE is on my No-Fly-List...

Haqqani Network. Taliban. Al Nusra Front. Kurdish Rebels. Muslim Brotherhood. Al Shabab. Wahabists. Palestinian Liberation Organization. Boko Haram.

Each one of these has been our ally or our enemy depending on which week/month/year. We use them as puppets for our geopolitical goals when useful, then dispose of them when not useful.