UK tourists warned against visiting the UAE

Rights NGOs have urged the British authorities to warn its citizens against travelling to the UAE following a string of arbitrary arrests of UK nationals.

In an open letter, Detained in Dubai, a London-based campaign group, called on the British Foreign Office to revise their travel warnings to the UAE in light of growing repression in the Gulf state, which increasingly threatens tourists and visitors.

Most recently, a British woman was arrested at Dubai airport on the basis of a facebook post she made on a family related matter in 2016. Laleh Sharafash, who went on to be held for 33 days, is one of many Britons arrested in the UAE over the past few months on spurious charges. Some of whom are still in jail, such as former soldier Andrew Neal - around 9000 people have signed a petition demanding his release, urging the UK government to intervene in his case.