Talk:Human rights in Dubai

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 28 January 2019 and 18 May 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Arthursamuel48. Peer reviewers: Arthursamuel48.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 23:59, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Swiss Man Convicted for 3 Poppy Seeds
Update - I removed the section completely after finding no factual references to the incident actually happening. I also removed open ended time references such as 'most recently' or 'lately' which should never be used when referencing anything. Can anyone cite any *actual* evidence that this ever happened?? I can not find anywhere that can name this person or any details, it seems like a well referenced myth. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sjoa (talk • contribs) 00:21, 17 October 2008 (UTC)
 * A Swiss man was sentenced to four years in prison after three poppy seeds - from a bread roll purchased at a UK airport - were detected on his clothing at Dubai International Airport.
 * It's all over Google News, so I don't know how you missed it. The case was handled by the UK charity, Fair Trials International.  As for the rest of your request, this may surprise you, but many people do not want their name in the news, so it's not surprising you couldn't find it.  The information should be added back.  Here is the original report:  Viriditas (talk) 04:16, 28 November 2009 (UTC)
 * It occurs to me now, that the reason the British group didn't release his name is because they probably weren't authorized, as he was Swiss. The only names that were released were British, and they have reports of other foreigners with no names as well. Viriditas (talk) 06:33, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

-- I should log in more often, the article you linked to does not provide anything more than unsubstantiated rumour! It is the same myth that you so accurately report as being "all over Google News"! Let me quote the actual text from the article you site as the source

"We even have reports of the imprisonment of a Swiss man for ‘possession’ of 3 poppy seeds on his clothing after he ate a bread roll at Heathrow."

Where are these reports? Who reported them? Most news sites reporting on this cite fairtrials as the source! This is just another example of a self supporting myth. There are no police reports or any actual evidence of this ever actually happening.

The claim should be removed unless it can be substantiated, even a little bit.

( I should also add, I don't doubt this could have happened and based on other verifiable examples in the article, it is not at all an unlikely scenario, that doesn't mean that any less effort should be put into verifying the facts than if it were a more dubious claim.) Sjoa (talk) 06:21, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

U.S. Invasion
Perhaps the US should invade Dubai - after all that is what the US does to middle eastern countries that have bad human rights, right? Oh no, thats only middle eastern countries with bad human rights and vast quantities of oil.... Anyway we all know taht human rights get worse not better when the US ivnade to "fix human rights and liberate populations from tyranny..." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.43.227.18 (talk) 07:21, 22 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Please see WP:SOAP. Thanks AreJay (talk) 13:36, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

Destitute in Dubai
This is a report from the BBC about a man who is trapped in legal limbo in Dubai after a bank dispute. He had his passport confiscated, the job let him go, he now sleeps rough on the street because he cannot earn the money he allegedly owes the bank. If this is not an abuse of due process, I don't know what is!!

BTW on the subject of Dubai International, I went through there last year. From the hassle my wife and I got along with several other passengers, they like to pick on whitey! Where have you come from? Where are you going to? What have you brought in you hand luggage? Yet the Al-Queeda looking types just get waved on through. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.172.7.155 (talk) 15:55, 18 July 2010 (UTC)


 * Please provide a reliable source which contends that this is a human rights issue, or if any of Mr. Warner's rights, under Dubai law, were violated. Regardless of the reason you were irritated with customs for questioning a foreigner as to their activities in their country, please refrain from uncivil and racist characterizations.VmZH88AZQnCjhT40 (talk) 19:39, 22 July 2013 (UTC)

Foreign Worker image caption
The image under "Foreign workers and labor rights" is labelled "Construction workers from Asia on top floor of the Angsana Tower". As the UAE is in the Asian continent, this caption seems as though it could be improved upon. Perhaps replace the word "Asia" with "India" or "the Indian Subcontinent"? 94.173.129.198 (talk) 21:40, 27 May 2012 (UTC)


 * I don't think it's a good idea to guess their country of origin. If somebody wants information on the demographics of the foreign working population in Dubai, they should visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Dubai, in spite of the quality of that article. What would be gained by guessing their COO or ethnicity? They aren't notable beyond being evidently not Emirati.VmZH88AZQnCjhT40 (talk) 19:44, 22 July 2013 (UTC)

Zero tolerance drug policy
What does Zero tolerance drug policy have to do with human rights? At least the cases about people that clearly was using/selling drugs in the country have nothing to do with human rights. The other cases are perhaps more about the legal system than drugs?

83.248.254.43 (talk) 13:52, 3 May 2013 (UTC)


 * Do people accused or convicted of using or selling drugs no longer enjoy human rights? Regardless of your personal view that human rights abuses cannot be inflicted against this class of persons, human rights activist organizations such as Human Rights Watch and the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy think they do. http://www.humanrightsanddrugs.org/ http://www.hrw.org/node/82339 http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/publications/human-rights-and-drug-policy http://www.ihra.net/drugs-and-human-rights-at-the-united-nations VmZH88AZQnCjhT40 (talk) 19:25, 22 July 2013 (UTC)

Removal of statement regarding the strength of dubai's human rights record
This statement was a press release by state-run media. Surely a better source can be found. Furthermore, the presence of a country on the UN HRC is not indicative of a strong human rights record due to the nomination system (which nominated a country whose president is a fugitive for war crimes), and the election system: http://www.unwatch.org/cms.asp?id=3280354&campaign_id=63111 VmZH88AZQnCjhT40 (talk) 15:54, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

Adding external links and categories
Those who have worked on this article deserve recognition for a good work. The interest for the topic is expanding and so the information and documents that could assist in making this article an even better source in wikipedia. I added a few categories I think are relevant. I also included two external links. Please, let me know if you also think they are relevant or no. Thanks. Historian (talk) 02:58, 23 July 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080209154552/http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/05/09/20/182637.html to http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/05/09/20/182637.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080217032430/http://www.gulfnews.com/indepth/labour/index.html to http://www.gulfnews.com/indepth/labour/index.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080401105222/http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/11/25/10170154.html to http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/11/25/10170154.html

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External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20141222042500/http://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE25/018/2014/en/da9909f8-498a-49b0-a1f9-d269f102f8ce/mde250182014en.pdf to https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE25/018/2014/en/da9909f8-498a-49b0-a1f9-d269f102f8ce/mde250182014en.pdf
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20151126101711/http://www.ic4jhr.net/en/activites/statements/19-uae-enforced-disappearances-continue.html to http://www.ic4jhr.net/en/activites/statements/19-uae-enforced-disappearances-continue.html
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THE CLAIM THAT UAE LOCALS "SHOW MINIMAL INTEREST IN WORKING"
“However, in reality there are very few anti-discrimination laws in relation to labour issues, with full UAE locals being given preferential treatment when it comes to employment, even though they generally show minimal interest in working.8”

This very condemnatory statement about UAE nationals needs to be removed or at the very least clarified. The reference used Is an opinion piece – an editorial – and not based on any empirical evidence. Further, the issue is education not working, The opinion piece author claims that education is pursued in order to get a job or a promotion in the context of a job one already has. Hence, using this as support for the claim that UAE locals do not want to work is wrong for this reason also. The editorial never said they had minimal interest in working.

Footnote (8) https://www.thenational.ae/emiratisation-won-t-work-if-people-don-t-want-to-learn-1.309839

One does not condemn a nation as lazy without empirical evidence to support that claim or by using an editorial that said no such thing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vlmerlini (talk • contribs) 09:58, 19 March 2020 (UTC)
 * That's true, the statement is not in the linked reflink, I removed it. Regards, UA3 (talk) 20:34, 19 March 2020 (UTC)