Marcus, from Tottenham, North London, had been enjoying a holiday with his parents when he met a fellow Brit at the same hotel. A holiday fling sparked and the pair spent time together until the girl, also from London, flew back to Britain.
In Dubai, if an adult has a sexual relationship with a person under 18, they can be prosecuted for having a sexual relationship with a minor. The relationship would be legal in the UK.
Marcus and his parents were set to fly back shortly after - but their plans were thrown into chaos when police knocked on their hotel room door. The “terrified” teenager was then reportedly hauled in for questioning without any explanation and held at the Al Barsha Police Station, DID said. He spent three days there, during which time he was not allowed to make a phone call or speak with his parents, it is claimed.
You know, laws and code have a lot in common. In both, if you change something at the wrong place, another totally unrelated part will behave different or stop working entirelly. And then there’s edge cases, whose handling was entirely forgotten.
The comments in this thread are practically Islamophobic and naive.
When you travel to another country, just abide by its culture and customs.
Like you cant go to India and disrespect cows, or now eat beef in public.
The comments are also naive because they show how unaware the commenters are about what actually goes on in rich countries and events for affluent people.
Uh yeah fuck Islam. Fuck the Judaism and Christianity too. See? Easy.
Okay so how do I fuck these religions exactly? I can go to these theocratic states and start doing whatever I want? Symbolising my freedom?
Why don’t you try it? Let’s see how far you can go to freeing humanity from the shackles of religion.
With a rocket. And I don’t give a fuck where you’re at.
Islamophobic? Nah. Naive, hell yeah. You should watch what you do like a hawk when you’re going to places like Dubai. Have a good understanding of what is legal and what isn’t, like eating outside during Ramadan - this can get you actual jailtime instead of a fine or a slap on the wrist like you’d expect.
Akshually it’s islamophobia to say that a lot of the laws in Dubai are bad!
You thinking that acknowledging theocracy as awful is bigotry?
Hard to feel sorry about anyone travelling to Dubai.
You don’t have to be rich to travel there. My brothers and their mother traveled there, not rich by any means. I’m probably more well off, but I haven’t been there. 🤷♂️
But maybe that wasn’t your point? Sorry if I assumed incorrectly!
I think you’re right, but also it says something about the personality too. I know great, respectable people in their own way who have gone there, but in general I agree with the vibe that it’s for “rich people who don’t care about inequality”
This is only applicable to people who have a wide variety of choices to pick from - if you ca only choose Dubai because your parents worked there as expats then you’re probably in the clear.
Knowing my family, Hanlon’s razor definitely applies here. People do not always know what’s going on politically or otherwise in a tourist place they visit. My family are not “great respectable people” (they’re good people though), so I’m gonna go with ignorance, for sure. 😅
They meant traveling to a pseudo-religious dictatorship
I mean… Okay. But… A place can be interesting to visit despite its government. 🤷♂️
That’s not what this is about. Can you understand what you read?
I… can, yes. Why does it seem like I can’t? Why don’t you fill me in? 🙏
No need to be so hostile. 👍
Can you not be a dick about it?
Agree, it was a bit snappy.
You Europeans really gotta stop vacationing in fucking Dubai, there are way cooler places to fly to.
My dad got there. They literally brainwashed him within a week. We had to prove him on multiple accounts that the tour guide lied to him.
Or just don’t fly.
It’s fucking Dubai… Why would you want to go there?
A monument to man’s arrogance, literal slaves, rampant misogyny, homophobia Yada Yada. Terrifying laws based on ultra conservative religions. Routinely one of the hottest places in the world and extremely expensive.
Just fucking why?
You just can’t get the same calibre of mouth-shitting instagram whores anywhere else.
That list sounds like a way to remind Brittan of it’s glory days, but warm.
In its glory days, Britain had plenty of warm spots.
Yeah like Jamaica! An infinitely better place to vacation than Dubai.
Because for some people those are features.
My guess is that the bri’ish family is either composed of rich assholes wanting to show off they’re rich, or of scammers that still haven’t got caught. Seriously, that city is a magnet for scammers to spend money on.
The only good reason to be there is a connecting flight
100%, I hated every minute of my layover wandering that shit-quality SimCity attempt, the bubble popped real fast once I talked to some locals.
I can’t wait for the sand to bury that cruel slave labor shitberg.
What did the locals have to say?
‘Please tell my family in Pakistan that I’m still alive’ probably
“The restaurants are mid.”
Like, you know, rest of the Europe
Fuck Dubai.
Signed me, who grew up there.
Man I’d be interested to hear about that. Any interesting insights?
Like any hotspot for the wealthy: hypocrisy and corruption as far as the eye can see.
What was it like
I will never understand why this place is idolized by so many people…
Lotsa influencers get free shit when making positive content about it.
Or why you’d even vacation there. How tf did they convince people to vacation in a desert?
Seriously, it’s like worse Vegas, and I don’t like Vegas at all
It’s way better than Vegas, at least they maintain the place. Vegas reminded me of a junkyard full of crackheads and flashy lights.
I’d like Vegas if there was like an airconditioned pedway to walk around the strip out of the heat and away from the crazies but still be able to observe like a human zoo.
Really? I loved Vegas and can’t wait to go back. Full disclosure though I’m not really a gambler and we didn’t hit the casinos at all but there’s some really cool stuff in that area.
FOMO. makes it seem exclusive. For whatever reason at least 50% of humans are just wired to want to feel better than everyone else. The actual experience itself doesn’t matter as long as they can brag about it knowing that others weren’t able to achieve it. Dubai literally has ice shipped in from melting glaciers so that rich people can put it into their drink https://arcticice.ae/
A bit of an unwarranted answer, but many richer Pakistanis go there to buy stuff that isn’t easily available back home. Hence, they become cash cows for the ginormous malls over there (seriously. If you think American malls are big, you haven’t been to Dubai). It’s basically the closest foreign city we have direct flights to, due to our sanctions and all with India. For example, I got my Nintendo 3DS, and later the phone that I’m currently using (Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra), from malls in Dubai.
How much are plane tickets? Flying somewhere to buy things is weird to my brain.
They were undoubtedly cheaper before, but with a low-budget airline like airblue, at least, a round-trip ticket between Lahore and Dubai, for a single adult, economy class, can cost 85,216 PKR or 306.23 USD.
Choosing a more expensive airline like Emirates bumps it up to 138,028 PKR or 496.01 USD.
(Source: Google Flights)
To be fair, my father at least would often buy stuff while he had another reason to be there (i.e. for business).
If you are talking about social media it is likely that they aren’t allowed to post something negative about the country or else you can be fined. If you are working as an influncer in Dubai you’ll need to obtain an license which regulates what you can post but you basically pay no income taxes
For the Middle East, it’s relatively progressive, from what I understand. That being said, that’s a low low bar.
I first thought you wrote “from the Middle East” yeah no. Dubai is Saudi Arabia with better PR.
If you have money
I should amend: if you’re there wilingly, it’s relatively progressive.
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They have a pretty open love for western money. If you have the funds ($$$$$$$$), you can do pretty much whatever you want.
But if you aren’t extremely wealthy, you get to experience the oppressive true nature of the place.
Guess which group goes to Dubai and tells people about their experiences.
Paris is too passé nowadays, you can’t be an asshole showoff when the place is full of peasants
💰 💵💰
The kind of Europeans who only go to Spain, Amsterdam, and Dubai
Spain, Amsterdam, and Dubai
What makes those three fit together? I’ve been to Barcelona and Amsterdam, but wouldn’t dream of going to Dubai.
What’s with Spain?
Is the answer prostitution?
Dubai is a terrible place. People need to stop going there.
I even worry about transiting places like this.
We Pakistanis don’t have much of a choice… We often have to stop at Dubai or Doha if we want to fly to Europe or the Americas. (Although occasionally, you can choose Turkish Airlines and stop at Istanbul instead.) Though to be fair, Pakistan can’t be much more friendly than Dubai to a lotta people…
I’m curious how the authorities were even aware of this occurring. The article says they were on holiday, so it’s not like there was much time. How did anyone notice their ages? Was it just fishing for a charge because of unrelated reasons?
Did you read the article?
The girls mother reported him to the Dubai police.
Hopefully her identity is revealed to the public and she faces some consequences for her actions. Maybe it’s already been leaked or released elsewhere, but it wasn’t in that article.
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I don’t believe that detail was in the article when I read it, but I’m unable to find any copies from before the update. I can tell you the article now is very different from the original.
After returning to the UK and seeing pictures and chats, the girl’s mother reported the relationship to Dubai police, who then arrested Mr Fakana at his hotel, it is alleged.
Either
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They’re always watching. I’m in tech and was taught in my security training - when traveling to countries with extremely strong surveillance, assume you are bugged. Family could be high valued and they wanted something from the parents. Probably a bit too tinfoil hat.
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Vengeance girl’s parents could be assholes/racist. As a dude, Ive had my share of “mommy & daddy doesn’t like me for taking their precious flower”. Multiplier in effect if they have a problem that I’m a PoC.
If you check the article it says it’s the 2nd case, the girl’s parents notified the Dubai authorities
You already know that Mommy phoned it in but after reading several articles I’m going to guess she did it because her family is Muslim. According to another article his family knew about it but didn’t care however she was hiding it from her family because they were “quite strict”.
I won’t discount racist assholes of course but you’d have to be SERIOUSLY over the top to know about this law in Dubai, let alone be willing to make an international phone call to the Dubai police about it. This smacks of religiously motivated behavior.
It was the mother of the girl. She got back to the UK found out about the boy and contacted the Dubai authorities. Apparently the girl was days off her 18th birthday too. It was in the news report when he was originally arrested.
Wrecked a young man’s life for some bullshit reason.
Wow, 2 years older in mere days. Must be a leap year.
Sorry typo. Fixed
I think either of those are super plausible. There will be people where they stayed who are happy to snitch, no bugs required. On top of that, the UAE has one of the highest concentration of surveillance cameras in the world. Like 30,000 in Dubai. Throw in some facial recognition cross referenced with the list of folks on vacation or on business in the city and it’s real easy to find out who is spending time together, what their ages are, and what their kids will look like.
The second one happens all the time. Happened to me when I turned 18 before my then girlfriend. Her mom threatened me with jail and all kinds of shit even though it was perfectly legal and we were only a couple of months apart. She just didn’t like me or the fact that I was dating her daughter. Would have probably been worse if I had been a PoC.
You’ve left out the good old snitch, my understanding is they’re pretty darn strict with anything that involves women over there, so maybe someone from the hotel saw something and reported it.
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Probably saw them socializing and then followed him on security cameras. Possibly seeing him go in her hotel room or vice versa. Then they haul him in and he admits what went on
But why were they watching in the first place? How did they know their ages?
Authoritarian countries like Dubai watch visitors.
It would be pretty easy (with big error bars but since when did authoritarians give a shit about that?) to set up some alerts based on facial recognition when someone under 18 (they have their passport information) is hanging out with someone over 18 who did not arrive in the same party.
Sry no sympathies. You vacation in a religiously oppressive hell hole this is what you get. Stay the fuck out of Dubai.
No sympathies? He didn’t choose where to vacation, his parents did. Should children pay for their parents’ mistakes?
Okay look. This dude is 18. His brain isn’t fully developed, he didn’t even graduate from high school yet, his hormones are out of control, and he has a penis.
If you still can’t see why he wasn’t thinking clearly, please read this article Teen Brain: Behavior, Problem Solving, and Decision Making from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
I won’t say I’ll never go to Dubai, but I will say I’ll do my best to never end up there.
As I’m reading this story I keep wondering…
How in the hell did the authorities even catch wind of this even happening?
Did someone report them?
Are all the rooms tapped and monitored Stasi-style?Well, did you read it?
After returning to the UK and seeing pictures and chats, the girl’s mother reported the relationship to Dubai police, who then arrested Mr Fakana at his hotel, it is alleged.
Mother of girl reported him after they had left and he was still there.
Teenagers in love are hardly subtle. Staff probably reported them.
What’s up with the breaks as if you’re writing poetry?
Just newline characters for formatting - it’s possible that whatever app you’re using doesn’t properly support the markdown. I had issues with that on Sync before switching to Thunder.
Weird. I use sync and it’s the first time I’ve ever seen it
On one hand, yeah, that sucks.
On the other hand, you go to a foreign country, you’re subject to their laws, and it’s on you to be aware of them.
There are weapons that I could happily lug around in the US that the UK would take issue with if I were to be doing so in the UK. Do I personally feel that British law is going the right way on this? No. However, it’s British territory, and so British law has jurisdiction. Saying “but I’m from the US and that would be perfectly legal back home” isn’t going to carry a lot of water with British courts, or, I expect, with British public opinion.
Similarly, a Brit can’t exactly go to the UAE and just do as one does in the UK and expect the UAE to accept it because something’s legal in the UK. International travel is a lot cheaper and easier than it ever has been historically, but once you walk across the line of a sovereign territory, it’s got real consequences, and if you choose to travel internationally, it’s on you to be aware of them. That country isn’t just a tourism spot for people from Country X, but a home for people who live there. They’ve got their own rules and concerns.
The chief executive of campaign group Detained in Dubai said Mr Fakana felt abandoned by the British government. He’s expected to appeal against his sentence.
I don’t really see a reasonable complaint against the British government here, at least from the article text.
“Wasn’t me.”
Backward degenerates.
Poor Marcus - I have a feeling this wouldn’t be an issue if he was white.
If he was Arab
Fixed that for you. This is in the extremely oppressive Dubai/UAE where any kind of extramarital thing is very much illegal.
Yeah fairs
