34 ms·

As if anyone traveling to a place like that is not already terrified.

dwater 5y ago
It was the location of the movie "Sex and the City 2". The UAE has put a huge effort into internationally branding themselves as a luxury tourism destination. I imagine there are loads of visitors who have no idea what the laws or legal system are like.
- walrus01 5y ago
  google "UAE Sonapur" for some documented examples of the near-slavery condition that some of the imported workers from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh live in. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=uae+sonapur https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=uae+son... https://gulfnews.com/uae/sonapur-welcome-to-the-dark-side-1.463591 https://gulfnews.com/uae/sonapur-welcome-to-the-dark-side-1....
  - dylan604 5y ago
    I wonder how many of the people that can afford these trips care about any of that?
    - mytailorisrich 5y ago
      From Europe, Dubai is a very common and rather cheap destination these days. Return flights from London are under £300.
  - rosndo 5y ago
    “near-slavery” is not slavery, neither is it worse than the places many of these workers come from.
    - cycomanic 5y ago
      You mean being treated like a slave, beaten sometimes raped, have their password taken away etc. is not so bad because, hey they still get paid, so not real slavery? (and no that is not the same same conditions as in the Philippines, Pakistan or Bangladesh)
      - rosndo 5y ago
        > beaten sometimes raped You go to prison for this in Dubai. > have their password taken away I suppose you mean “passport”. This is also illegal, government has been cracking down on this for years. The MOHRE hotline for these issues is advertised everywhere, it only takes a quick call and the police will come recover your passport. But yeah, I guess it’s pointless to try and have a conversation with someone engaging as dishonestly as you. I obviously don’t mean that violence or rape are okay, and it’s really shitty of you to suggest that. What next? Will you accuse me of molesting children too?
  - Aspos 5y ago
    What do you think the alternatives should be? Should Indian and Pakistani companies pay more to Indian and Pakistani workers they bring to Dubai? Should they leave them in India and let them work in even worse conditions? Who do you think should dictate how much more Indian companies should pay Indian laborers which btw already are getting way more than they can get at home? Many people crying about "slavery in Dubai" don't fully understand what slavery is and how Dubai works. What I am suggesting here, is that, perhaps, this notion is just a second-hand opinion you should consider changing your mind about. If you are open to it, that is.
    - rosndo 5y ago
      Yep, it’s sort of hilarious to see us rich Westerners criticizing work conditions in Dubai while our countries simply make it impossible for these same people to get visas to work in the West. UAE is doing more to improve the lives of these people than the West ever has, even if it doesn’t look all that pretty. It’s very unfortunate that photos of denied visa applications will never evoke the same response.
      - lotsofpulp 5y ago
        Mind boggling that someone could equate slavery via confiscation of passports to denying people immigration visas.
        rosndo 5y ago
        If someone confiscates your passport in Dubai you can have it back within 24 hours by just calling MOHRE at 80060. It is illegal to do this, enforcement is pretty aggressive. As to denial of visas? At least the UAE offers these people a chance at a better life, Western countries give them nothing. A slight QOL improvement is much better than none.
        munk-a 5y ago
        If it's illegal to confiscate passports in Dubai why is it so widespread and commonplace? Is it like smoking MJ in most states - it's "illegal" but unless cops want a reason to arrest you they'll just ignore you and keep on driving?
  - aliswe 5y ago
    Fyi Sonapoor is a vastly different place nowadays.
- dillondoyle 5y ago
  I can't find it.. but i read an article last week that went through how these oppressive governments are using sports (and their money) to build up their image. Russia did it before their first invasion. China did it twice with the olympics. the use of sports and FIFA is an example of this. *qatar not uae, is the absolute worst place to hold a giant soccer tournament. They have to use special AC units inside giant stadiums (built on deaths of lots of migrant workers) because it's a hot desert. But they claim they are still 'green' Saudi using art is an example too. They paid a ton of money to use the name Louvre even though their museum has nothing to do with the institution. ironically he refused to loan his $450 million 'da vinci' to the real museum. Evidently sitting on a yacht hidden because good chance it's not by da vinci's hand. As a queer person who loves to travel (or did before covid) there are some countries i just refuse to visit, despite the awesome cultural heritage. I know that citizens don't always necessarily agree, but many do. And I just can't support the expansion of authoritarianism - and potentially risk my life.
  - Mikeb85 5y ago
    > UAE is the absolute worst place to hold a giant soccer tournament. They have to use special AC units inside giant stadiums (built on deaths of lots of migrant workers) Ummm, Qatar isn't UAE...
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - dillondoyle 5y ago
      fixed!
  - throwaway1777 5y ago
    Qatar is hosting the World Cup not UAE. UAE does host some sporting events though, notably golf and f1.
    - dillondoyle 5y ago
      You're right sorry i'll change
- apohn 5y ago
  >It was the location of the movie "Sex and the City 2". It wasn't filmed there. It was filmed in Morocco and they just said it took place in Abu Dhabi. The UAE government said they couldn't film there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_and_the_City_2#Filming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_and_the_City_2#Filming It might seem like a random topic for me to know, but I lived in UAE for a portion of my life and the government is pretty mindful of having their name associated with some of the themes you'd typically see with that particular TV series. So I was quite surprised when they claimed it was Abu Dhabi, and not surprised that they actually filmed it elsewhere.
  - dboreham 5y ago
    I always assumed it was a paid product placement spot.
  - Narishma 5y ago
    Any vaguely middle-eastern-looking location you see in a movie or TV show was very likely shot in Morocco, especially in recent decades. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foreign_films_shot_in_Morocco https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foreign_films_shot_in_...
- phphphphp 5y ago
  That’s interesting: here in the UK, there’s often major news stories about very punitive actions taken against tourists in Dubai for things like drinking in public or having sex on a beach. I’d guess a lot of people “know” that the system is strict but are naive enough to believe it won’t apply to them for whatever reason.
  - code_duck 5y ago
    Yeah, I am basically horrified about everything about the idea of visiting the UAE, other than that they have interesting cities and nice beaches. I would never consider taking a vacation there.
  - zizee 5y ago
    Hopefully these news stories will help educate people about the risks involved with travel to certain countries.
- HL33tibCe7 5y ago
  Relatedly, the sheer number of YouTube adverts for Qatar I’ve had recently… the adverts have nice happy jingly music and cute little avatars exploring Qatar’s filthy lucre ^H^H^H-uh I mean beautiful buildings, shopping centers, pools and the like. Basically trying to “adwash” their slavery.
  - Scoundreller 5y ago
    Keep in mind GOOG gets half that money. 100% if it's on my videos they departnered me from because I didn't meet their new goalpost of 1000 subs but then later decided it's still acceptable puts ads on. Asshats. https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2475463?hl=en https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2475463?hl=en
- steve_coral 5y ago
  I mean, in Sex and the City 2 the ladies get deported from the country due to a public display of affection. If you actually watched the movie you'd realize its a damning cinematic critique with a witty script and stellar acting.
politelemon 5y ago
I was already terrified based on the number of stories regarding poppy seeds from bagels leading to imprisonment.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  You should also be terrified by the fact that one of the royals, Issa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is seen on video torturing a business partner, and suffered no repercussions after the video came out in 2009. https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=7402099 https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=7402099 Of course, the torture victim and his brother who released the video were convicted by UAE courts.
  - tacomonstrous 5y ago
    My god this was a horrifying read.
paulpauper 5y ago
been to uae many times. was never scared. Taleb has been hyping this story for weeks. The fact it gets so much media coverage suggests its rarity. The odds of being detained in uae for social media posts is very low. The UAE gets tons of tourism. Your odds of being roughed up by police in America are higher.
- Sirened 5y ago
  Depends on who you are I guess. If you're gay or trans, you're in for a very bad time. While they probably won't actually punish you (besides roughing you up and throwing you in jail for a bit) if you're a foreigner from a large, western country, you're still not exactly "fine".
  - yardstick 5y ago
    A gay couple I know frequently enjoy visiting Dubai. I think so long as you keep the PDA in your hotel rooms you are fine.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
  - reaperducer 5y ago
    - munk-a 5y ago
      Imagine for a moment that in the UAE it's illegal to not keep your right hand on your left shoulder - sure you can make it work and conform, but you're compromising a lot of your natural behavior to fit in for no good reason. That cost might be worth it to some people but it's definitely a cost and it's an unreasonable one. You'll need to be conscious of how you walk with your partner, you'll need to carefully consider how it'll look if you go out for a fancy dinner together and invent a cover story to cloak your actions, you'll probably be charged a gay-tax by being forced to rent separate hotel rooms or at least a room with double beds in it. I find the description of "just keep it in your pants" to be offensively reductive.
qiskit 5y ago
UAE is a fast growing international hub. Nobody is terrified. No more than people are terrified of traveling to germany because tourists get arrested for silly nonsense like a nazi salute or thailand because tourists get arrested insulting the royals or indonesia because tourists get arrested for drugs. Not saying I agree with anyone getting arrested for silly nonsense. But for 99% of the travelers, it doesn't matter.

It was the location of the movie "Sex and the City 2". The UAE has put a huge effort into internationally branding themselves as a luxury tourism destination. I imagine there are loads of visitors who have no idea what the laws or legal system are like.

walrus01 5y ago
google "UAE Sonapur" for some documented examples of the near-slavery condition that some of the imported workers from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh live in. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=uae+sonapur https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=uae+son... https://gulfnews.com/uae/sonapur-welcome-to-the-dark-side-1.463591 https://gulfnews.com/uae/sonapur-welcome-to-the-dark-side-1....
- dylan604 5y ago
  I wonder how many of the people that can afford these trips care about any of that?
  - mytailorisrich 5y ago
    From Europe, Dubai is a very common and rather cheap destination these days. Return flights from London are under £300.
- rosndo 5y ago
  “near-slavery” is not slavery, neither is it worse than the places many of these workers come from.
  - cycomanic 5y ago
    You mean being treated like a slave, beaten sometimes raped, have their password taken away etc. is not so bad because, hey they still get paid, so not real slavery? (and no that is not the same same conditions as in the Philippines, Pakistan or Bangladesh)
    - rosndo 5y ago
      > beaten sometimes raped You go to prison for this in Dubai. > have their password taken away I suppose you mean “passport”. This is also illegal, government has been cracking down on this for years. The MOHRE hotline for these issues is advertised everywhere, it only takes a quick call and the police will come recover your passport. But yeah, I guess it’s pointless to try and have a conversation with someone engaging as dishonestly as you. I obviously don’t mean that violence or rape are okay, and it’s really shitty of you to suggest that. What next? Will you accuse me of molesting children too?
- Aspos 5y ago
  What do you think the alternatives should be? Should Indian and Pakistani companies pay more to Indian and Pakistani workers they bring to Dubai? Should they leave them in India and let them work in even worse conditions? Who do you think should dictate how much more Indian companies should pay Indian laborers which btw already are getting way more than they can get at home? Many people crying about "slavery in Dubai" don't fully understand what slavery is and how Dubai works. What I am suggesting here, is that, perhaps, this notion is just a second-hand opinion you should consider changing your mind about. If you are open to it, that is.
  - rosndo 5y ago
    Yep, it’s sort of hilarious to see us rich Westerners criticizing work conditions in Dubai while our countries simply make it impossible for these same people to get visas to work in the West. UAE is doing more to improve the lives of these people than the West ever has, even if it doesn’t look all that pretty. It’s very unfortunate that photos of denied visa applications will never evoke the same response.
    - lotsofpulp 5y ago
      Mind boggling that someone could equate slavery via confiscation of passports to denying people immigration visas.
      - rosndo 5y ago
        If someone confiscates your passport in Dubai you can have it back within 24 hours by just calling MOHRE at 80060. It is illegal to do this, enforcement is pretty aggressive. As to denial of visas? At least the UAE offers these people a chance at a better life, Western countries give them nothing. A slight QOL improvement is much better than none.
        munk-a 5y ago
        If it's illegal to confiscate passports in Dubai why is it so widespread and commonplace? Is it like smoking MJ in most states - it's "illegal" but unless cops want a reason to arrest you they'll just ignore you and keep on driving?
- aliswe 5y ago
  Fyi Sonapoor is a vastly different place nowadays.
dillondoyle 5y ago
I can't find it.. but i read an article last week that went through how these oppressive governments are using sports (and their money) to build up their image. Russia did it before their first invasion. China did it twice with the olympics. the use of sports and FIFA is an example of this. *qatar not uae, is the absolute worst place to hold a giant soccer tournament. They have to use special AC units inside giant stadiums (built on deaths of lots of migrant workers) because it's a hot desert. But they claim they are still 'green' Saudi using art is an example too. They paid a ton of money to use the name Louvre even though their museum has nothing to do with the institution. ironically he refused to loan his $450 million 'da vinci' to the real museum. Evidently sitting on a yacht hidden because good chance it's not by da vinci's hand. As a queer person who loves to travel (or did before covid) there are some countries i just refuse to visit, despite the awesome cultural heritage. I know that citizens don't always necessarily agree, but many do. And I just can't support the expansion of authoritarianism - and potentially risk my life.
- Mikeb85 5y ago
  > UAE is the absolute worst place to hold a giant soccer tournament. They have to use special AC units inside giant stadiums (built on deaths of lots of migrant workers) Ummm, Qatar isn't UAE...
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - dillondoyle 5y ago
    fixed!
- throwaway1777 5y ago
  Qatar is hosting the World Cup not UAE. UAE does host some sporting events though, notably golf and f1.
  - dillondoyle 5y ago
    You're right sorry i'll change
apohn 5y ago
>It was the location of the movie "Sex and the City 2". It wasn't filmed there. It was filmed in Morocco and they just said it took place in Abu Dhabi. The UAE government said they couldn't film there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_and_the_City_2#Filming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_and_the_City_2#Filming It might seem like a random topic for me to know, but I lived in UAE for a portion of my life and the government is pretty mindful of having their name associated with some of the themes you'd typically see with that particular TV series. So I was quite surprised when they claimed it was Abu Dhabi, and not surprised that they actually filmed it elsewhere.
- dboreham 5y ago
  I always assumed it was a paid product placement spot.
- Narishma 5y ago
  Any vaguely middle-eastern-looking location you see in a movie or TV show was very likely shot in Morocco, especially in recent decades. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foreign_films_shot_in_Morocco https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foreign_films_shot_in_...
phphphphp 5y ago
That’s interesting: here in the UK, there’s often major news stories about very punitive actions taken against tourists in Dubai for things like drinking in public or having sex on a beach. I’d guess a lot of people “know” that the system is strict but are naive enough to believe it won’t apply to them for whatever reason.
- code_duck 5y ago
  Yeah, I am basically horrified about everything about the idea of visiting the UAE, other than that they have interesting cities and nice beaches. I would never consider taking a vacation there.
- zizee 5y ago
  Hopefully these news stories will help educate people about the risks involved with travel to certain countries.
HL33tibCe7 5y ago
Relatedly, the sheer number of YouTube adverts for Qatar I’ve had recently… the adverts have nice happy jingly music and cute little avatars exploring Qatar’s filthy lucre ^H^H^H-uh I mean beautiful buildings, shopping centers, pools and the like. Basically trying to “adwash” their slavery.
- Scoundreller 5y ago
  Keep in mind GOOG gets half that money. 100% if it's on my videos they departnered me from because I didn't meet their new goalpost of 1000 subs but then later decided it's still acceptable puts ads on. Asshats. https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2475463?hl=en https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2475463?hl=en
steve_coral 5y ago
I mean, in Sex and the City 2 the ladies get deported from the country due to a public display of affection. If you actually watched the movie you'd realize its a damning cinematic critique with a witty script and stellar acting.

politelemon 5y ago

I was already terrified based on the number of stories regarding poppy seeds from bagels leading to imprisonment.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
You should also be terrified by the fact that one of the royals, Issa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is seen on video torturing a business partner, and suffered no repercussions after the video came out in 2009. https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=7402099 https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=7402099 Of course, the torture victim and his brother who released the video were convicted by UAE courts.
- tacomonstrous 5y ago
  My god this was a horrifying read.

paulpauper 5y ago

been to uae many times. was never scared. Taleb has been hyping this story for weeks. The fact it gets so much media coverage suggests its rarity. The odds of being detained in uae for social media posts is very low. The UAE gets tons of tourism. Your odds of being roughed up by police in America are higher.

Sirened 5y ago
Depends on who you are I guess. If you're gay or trans, you're in for a very bad time. While they probably won't actually punish you (besides roughing you up and throwing you in jail for a bit) if you're a foreigner from a large, western country, you're still not exactly "fine".
- yardstick 5y ago
  A gay couple I know frequently enjoy visiting Dubai. I think so long as you keep the PDA in your hotel rooms you are fine.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- reaperducer 5y ago
  - munk-a 5y ago
    Imagine for a moment that in the UAE it's illegal to not keep your right hand on your left shoulder - sure you can make it work and conform, but you're compromising a lot of your natural behavior to fit in for no good reason. That cost might be worth it to some people but it's definitely a cost and it's an unreasonable one. You'll need to be conscious of how you walk with your partner, you'll need to carefully consider how it'll look if you go out for a fancy dinner together and invent a cover story to cloak your actions, you'll probably be charged a gay-tax by being forced to rent separate hotel rooms or at least a room with double beds in it. I find the description of "just keep it in your pants" to be offensively reductive.

qiskit 5y ago

UAE is a fast growing international hub. Nobody is terrified. No more than people are terrified of traveling to germany because tourists get arrested for silly nonsense like a nazi salute or thailand because tourists get arrested insulting the royals or indonesia because tourists get arrested for drugs. Not saying I agree with anyone getting arrested for silly nonsense. But for 99% of the travelers, it doesn't matter.