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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

by dwater 4y 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 4y 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 4y ago
  I wonder how many of the people that can afford these trips care about any of that?
  - mytailorisrich 4y ago
    From Europe, Dubai is a very common and rather cheap destination these days. Return flights from London are under £300.
- rosndo 4y ago
  “near-slavery” is not slavery, neither is it worse than the places many of these workers come from.
  - cycomanic 4y 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 4y 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 4y 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 4y 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 4y ago
      Mind boggling that someone could equate slavery via confiscation of passports to denying people immigration visas.
      - rosndo 4y 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 4y 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 4y ago
  Fyi Sonapoor is a vastly different place nowadays.
dillondoyle 4y 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 4y 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 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - dillondoyle 4y ago
    fixed!
- throwaway1777 4y ago
  Qatar is hosting the World Cup not UAE. UAE does host some sporting events though, notably golf and f1.
  - dillondoyle 4y ago
    You're right sorry i'll change
apohn 4y 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 4y ago
  I always assumed it was a paid product placement spot.
- Narishma 4y 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 4y 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 4y 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 4y ago
  Hopefully these news stories will help educate people about the risks involved with travel to certain countries.
HL33tibCe7 4y 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 4y 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 4y 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.

by dwater 4y ago

walrus01 4y 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 4y ago
I wonder how many of the people that can afford these trips care about any of that?
- mytailorisrich 4y ago
  From Europe, Dubai is a very common and rather cheap destination these days. Return flights from London are under £300.
rosndo 4y ago
“near-slavery” is not slavery, neither is it worse than the places many of these workers come from.
- cycomanic 4y 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 4y 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 4y 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 4y 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 4y ago
    Mind boggling that someone could equate slavery via confiscation of passports to denying people immigration visas.
    - rosndo 4y 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 4y 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 4y ago
Fyi Sonapoor is a vastly different place nowadays.

dillondoyle 4y 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 4y 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 4y ago
  [deleted]
- dillondoyle 4y ago
  fixed!
throwaway1777 4y ago
Qatar is hosting the World Cup not UAE. UAE does host some sporting events though, notably golf and f1.
- dillondoyle 4y ago
  You're right sorry i'll change

apohn 4y 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 4y ago
I always assumed it was a paid product placement spot.
Narishma 4y 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 4y 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 4y 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 4y ago
Hopefully these news stories will help educate people about the risks involved with travel to certain countries.

HL33tibCe7 4y 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 4y 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 4y 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.