An Interview with an Immigrant from Dubai (Clare Halsey)

I had the pleasure of interviewing an immigrant, Nishi (last name kept private), who provided amazing insight into what it's like being born in India, living in Dubai, and then coming to the United States. After her interview, I wrote about the culture in the UAE surrounding immigrants, and also some of the social laws in the country. Here is the audio below:

The United Arab Emirates is home to some of the most technologically advanced cities in the world, namely Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The world often deems these cities as the epitome of modernity due to their rapid transformation from desert to international hub of activity. However, while beautiful skyscrapers and infrastructure that puts the US to shame may be wonderful to look at, this opulence hides truth that makes many Westerners - Americans and Central/Western Europeans, uncomfortable. This is referring to the United Arab Emirates’ social laws, specifically laws related to immigration policy and social life. This blog post, along with an interview with a woman who lived in Dubai for nearly her whole life, seek to shed light on what life is like in Dubai, particularly for immigrants.

The United Arab Emirates’ immigration policy is quite straightforward; the only chance of a non-Arab and/or anyone not born in the United Arab Emirates becoming a citizen is to be married to a native for at least 10 years. However, this still does not guarantee citizenship. Though there technically is a possibility of citizenship, it is mostly a formality, as the interviewee said, “No one becomes a citizen.” Unlike the United States, a child born in the United Arab Emirates does not receive citizenship by birth. Rather, they take on the nationality of their parents. 90% of the United Arab Emirates’ population consists of immigrants. Therefore, less than 10% of people living in the United Arab Emirates are protected by the law, and as the interviewee explains, can benefit from the unspoken perks of being a citizen, such an favor amongst law enforcement.

What are the roots of this policy? It’s easy to judge the United Arab Emirates, however, Americans should draw parallels between our own immigration sentiments and that of the United Arab Emirates. Why did Donald Trump, a man who wants to build a wall between the United States and Mexico and deport millions of immigrants, get elected? Many Americans felt that the United was losing its national identity due to the presence of South Americans. Now, I am physically as white as can be, and I do not agree with the concept of a “real American” having a certain skin color, however, I try to put myself in the shoes of Trump supporters to understand their thought process. Likewise, citizens of the United Arab Emirates are a minority in their own country, and many of them want to preserve a national, really ethnic, identity. The immigrant population of the United Arab Emirates, much like that of the United States, has contributed tremendous amounts of labor towards the development of the country. Despite this, many Emirati citizens fear changing demographics. The Middle East as a whole has faced huge threats relating to identity starting centuries ago with Western Imperialism, so one can certainly deduce why some  citizens living in those countries would want to maintain national and ethnic homogeneity.

The United Arab Emirates’ immigration policy is not the only aspect of the country’s law that turns head; the social and personal laws in the United Arab Emirates are of concern not only for people who live in the United Arab Emirates, but tourists as well. In the United States, you can pretty much say whatever you want against the government, and to an extent, individuals, and not fear any legal action. This of course is a simplification, however, Americans don’t think twice about voicing their political opinions on social media for the world to hear. Many Americans, myself included, take this freedom for granted. It seems so logical, having the freedom to voice opposition to your government, but this is not the reality for everyone. Jo Glanville, a patron of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, wrote  an open letter to Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. "Your Excellency

As the 8th annual Emirates Airline Festival of Literature draws to a close, English PEN and Human Rights Watch would like to express our grave concern over the United Arab Emirates’ attacks on those who exercise their right to freedom of expression.

The festival’s website states that the purpose of the festival is to bring ‘people of all ages and backgrounds together with authors from across the world to promote education, debate and above all else, love of reading and writing.’ We unequivocally support this aim, but call on the United Arab Emirates to take immediate steps to reverse its aggressive assault on critical thought and free speech.

The UAE’s record on freedom of expression has declined dramatically since 2008. The UAE has passed draconian legislation which poses a threat to the lives and liberty of those who exercise their right to free speech. UAE authorities have barred artists and academics from entry, deported bloggers and other proponents of free expression, blacklisted international NGOs including Human Rights Watch, and sentenced domestic dissidents to long jail sentences after unfair trials marred by allegations of torture.

The UAE’s uncompromising suppression of free expression has crippled what was a small but burgeoning civil society, going back to March 2011 when 132 Emiratis and four civil society organisations signed a petition requesting that the Federal National Council, whose mandate is to provide for public debate of legislation, be elected by universal suffrage and given legislative powers. This triggered the forced disappearance of prominent blogger and award-winning human rights advocate Ahmed Mansoor in April 2011; the disbandment of the Jurist Association in the same month and the Teachers’ Association the following month; the March 2012 expulsion from the country of the National Democratic Institute and Konrad Adenaeur Stiftungin; the July 2012 deportation of Emirati blogger Ahmed Abd al-Khaleq; the effective expulsion from the country of academic Matt Duffy, a professor of journalism at a UAE University and a proponent of greater media freedoms in the UAE.

In June 2013 human rights lawyers Mohamed al-Roken and Mohamed al-Mansoori were among 69 Emiratis convicted of plotting to overthrow the government in a mass trial tainted by credible allegations that the defendants were tortured in pre-trial incommunicado detention. From the court documents it is clear that they had done nothing other than peacefully exercise their legitimate rights to free expression and association. UAE authorities provided no credible evidence to substantiate the charges. The harassment and intimidation of the defendants’ lawyers led Baroness Kennedy of the International Bar Association to condemn what she called ’a climate of fear among the legal profession’.

In November 2012, the UAE passed a cybercrimes decree that enables the authorities to imprison anyone who comments critically about the country or its rulers. The authorities have used the law to imprison numerous Emiratis who have criticised the authorities’ heavy-handed tactics, or expressed support for political detainees. Emirati Osama al-Najer, for example, is serving a three-year prison sentence for offences that include ‘communicating with external organizations to provide misleading information.’ This was after al-Najer had been quoted in a Human Rights Watch news release on the alleged torture of political detainees.

Emirati academic Nasser bin Ghaith’s whereabouts remain unknown at the time of writing after his forcible disappearance in August 2015. Bin Ghaith had criticized the Egyptian security forces’ mass killing of demonstrators in Cairo’s Rab’a Square in 2013 after the ouster of Egypt’s elected president, Mohamed Morsy. Jordanian journalist Tayseer al-Najer’s whereabouts also remain unknown, since the Criminal Investigations Department in Abu Dhabi summoned him on December 13, 2015.

The UAE’s assault on free expression has not been confined to political dissidents. In 2013, eight amateur film-makers received one-year prison sentences for ’defaming the UAE’s image abroad‘ on the basis of a 19-minute video that they made and uploaded to YouTube in October 2012. Deadly Satwa G-s parodied Dubai’s youth culture.

UAE authorities have prevented individuals and groups who have criticised the UAE’s rights record from entering the country. In January 2014, authorities permanently blacklisted Human Rights Watch’s UAE researcher and in May 2015 they prevented the acting head of Amnesty International’sBusiness and Human Rights Division from entering the country. Authorities also denied entry to the country to three members of Gulf Labor, a group of artists and academics who have campaigned against the abuse of migrant workers in the UAE. In October 2014, authorities prevented journalist Sean O’Driscoll, who co-wrote a May 2014 New York Times article on harsh labour conditions at the Abu Dhabi campus of New York University, from entering the country.

Emirati rights activist Ahmed Mansoor, one of the very few voices within the United Arab Emirates who provides a credible independent assessment of human rights developments, has been unable to leave the country since his conviction for insulting the country’s top officials in November 2011. Mansoor’s prison sentence was commuted after a royal pardon but since then authorities have denied him a passport and prevented him from leaving the country, smeared him publicly, and unknown persons have threatened him with violence and even death on social media, and physically assaulted him twice.

We support Your Excellency’s patronage of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, but strongly urge you to safeguard its future credibility by taking immediate steps, in your role as Prime Minister of the UAE, to put an end to your country’s assault on freedom of expression.

Yours sincerely

Jo Glanville”

As the interviewee, Nishi, said, “You can get deported for anything.” This applies not only to what you say, but what you do. I admit that I hate PDA (public displays of affection), but I don’t necessarily think that it warrants any sort of legal punishment, so long as the people are not indecent. If you are planning on visiting the United Arab Emirates, here are some laws you should be aware of.

1. No Public Display of Affection. A married couple may hold hays, but that is it. Recently, two citizens of the United Kingdom faced a month in jail because a UAE citizen complained that the two had kissed in public.
2. No Dancing in Public. I very much enjoy dancing the Viennese waltz, as I play classical music, but that’s about it as far as dancing goes. I personally wouldn’t be very affected by this law!
3. No sharing a room with someone of the opposite sex who is not your spouse. The exception is in Dubai; this is a more liberal area of the UAE and because hotels depend on tourism, you most likely will be able to share a hotel room with someone who isn’t your spouse if you are vacationing there.
4. No cursing or making obscene gestures. I would definitely get in trouble for this one.
5. No disrespecting any religion. Take note that this does not just protect Islam; offensive statements or actions against any religion are punishable.
6. No revealing clothing. While you are allowed to wear items such as t-shirts and shorts, they should look like clothing, not underwear. Additionally, swimsuits may only be worn on beaches, and nudity is strictly forbidden everywhere. The nudity thing isn’t strange to citizens of the United States, however, many European countries are completely fine with nudity.
7. No Taking Pictures without Someone’s Permission. Even if a person is not the focal point of the photo, you could still face repercussions.

As you can see, there are many differences between the US and the UAE in terms of laws governing personal life. While I, a US citizen, happen to behave in a manner in line with many of the  UAE’s laws, I don’t think that the government should play such a large role in people’s personal lives. What do you think about the UAE’s social laws and the government’s role in someone’s private life in general? Leave a comment below!