31 Comments
User's avatar
pobrecollie's avatar

One of the last places I would want to visit, even before they started bombing it.

Ruth Bray's avatar

Agree with the first comment. Totally fascinating!

Jordyn Sharfe's avatar

what a fascinating read

Bpops's avatar

It’s literally illegal to be gay in Dubai. It’s not a safe place for a lot of people

Fidan's avatar

And where are you based you bot? I know plenty of gay people who live here and feel safe to do so

Bpops's avatar

Punishment by death is written into law and is a possibility for gay people living there. Moreover, homosexuality is specifically criminalised in local Dubai legislation. People risk chemical castration, flogging, and forced hormone injection. That is not safe. It’s up to you if you feel comfortable defending or co-signing on that

Liam Collens's avatar

Hi 👋🏽 Dubai resident of 11 years here. I won’t comment on the Brit-Dubai influencer scourge because frankly I think they’re annoying, embarrassing and I avoid them like my life depends on it.

What I will focus on is the doubt about whether we are fine here and questioning the sincerity of the online signalling from local residents.

Speaking for myself, the uncertainty exacerbated by emergency alerts is very difficult to live with, but I don’t feel unsafe especially when I see what is happening in Lebanon, Israel and, obviously, Iran.

People here are genuinely grateful to live in a country where the defensive military capabilities seem almost faultless and the government is working extremely hard to mitigate the impact on our daily lives and ameliorate the crisis in the region.

Please keep in mind many people are very grateful to live here especially when presented with the risk of going back to their home countries. Brits are not the only ones who live here.

I can’t help but look at what the UAE has managed to do and avoid—suddenly with such blistering intensity—over the last week versus, oh let’s just say, the UK’s inability to send a boat down the road to Cyprus or to get a flight out of Muscat on time. Imagine that same government keeping British people safe from 1000s drones and ballistic missiles over the last week.

Context: We had 109 drones and missiles fired at us and SHOT DOWN by lunch time just today.

So yeah, not everyone is terrified and leaving the country. But some people are and I don’t begrudge them because their circumstances are their own.

And that’s war, but, in the meantime, I am very grateful for being where I am and for the fact it isn’t a lot worse as of right now.

What does grind my gears is the snark, sass and blithe generalisations from outside the region, especially from the UK media, ESPECIALLY social media armchair warriors who never waste a good crisis to propagate their confirmation bias.

Fidan's avatar

Thank you! Couldn’t have said it better myself

Jesse S.'s avatar

This made me laugh so hard. I mean, obvs I want people to be safe everywhere! But first, like, Gaza and Sudan and Iran... then like a whole lot of other places, and then, yes, then the bougie shallow influencers who shill for the UAE in Dubai.

Pam Durant's avatar

Soooo I've lived and worked in Dubai for more than 2 decades. What everything is failing to see is that Dubai is not just influencers. Articles like these and the comments of haters are so misleading. If anything, the articles about influencers just draw more attention to the bad behavior and then they become even more influencial. It feeds the cycle. People are not trapped here. There is nothing divisive about those of us who have been working here and making an honest living. 🤷‍♀️

Bry - Stei's avatar

I think the intent is to draw attention to the irony of the current situation and the hypocrisy of the government not to be totally honest. Elite government officials and privileged white folks are accountable for any deaths in this current situation for that area🤷‍♂️

CKaye 🌞's avatar

Why anyone thought that ANY area in the Middle East was safe is way beyond my comprehension.

Neil @ LaunchBox's avatar

Yay! I’ve known Dubai since I was little. I saw it grow from the desert. And I hate everything it has become.

Fidan's avatar

Was this post really necessary?? As someone who has lived in Dubai and called it home since the 80s, I can vouch for it without getting paid like these influencers. It is indeed a safe haven for many people who don’t have the white privilege of escaping back to the UK when bombs start hitting the city. It’s been an incredibly difficult time for all of us who call this place home - we have jobs, family, and kids here. Not everyone in Dubai is an influencer and it is really in poor taste to be celebrating the hardship and fear of others in moments like this. Incredibly disappointing that this is how people in the west perceive this moment, rather than looking at your horrible domestic policies that pushed out so many people in the first place. None of your countries would have accepted as many people of color in the first place, so yes for us it’s home, it’s always been safe, and we continue to support the people keeping us safe all while being terrified of the uncertainty

Bry - Stei's avatar

I don’t think the intent of the article was to offend anyone…it was more or less to point out that hypocrisy of the current situation.

It is ironic that the government bribed influencers to move there to tout safety and security but it has been a hot bed of war in that region for a long time. The rich elites of the government and privileged white folks did this🤷‍♂️

Liam Collens's avatar

The government bribed influencers?

Liam Collens's avatar

I hear back tracking.

Bry - Stei's avatar

Hear what you want, UAE “ain’t what it’s cracked up to be”…😂

Liam Collens's avatar

Sorry claiming a government has bribed people to mislead others en masse is an extremely serious allegation that you’ve casually just thrown out there and, when asked about it, there’s not even a suggestion of proof. It’s just “basically” followed by a lolz pivot.

Fidan's avatar

People spewing hatred and accusations without any proof! And celebrating the demise of a place when ordinary people in Dubai like myself just wanna leave a peaceful life just like anyone else

Mal Dale's avatar

I’ve long considered ‘influencers’ to be a parasitic species synonymous with gross authoritarian consumer capitalism.

But once you add the prefix ‘Dubai’, you next level that shit from parasite to gross clagnut.

quidestruetmundum's avatar

Nothing good in Dubai. It is a temple to the hubris and greed of the demoralized West.

Hope Anderson's avatar

I suspect that some of these influencers couldn’t find Dubai on a map

Maxi Minimalist's avatar

USrael wanted to get rid of the ayatollahs. Instead they are giving Iran the chance to reshape the Middle-East in an expected way. GCC countries are no safe heaven.

Global Majority's avatar

LOL Bomb That TRASH