Dubai Police expect visitors to respect the UAE’s rules
▶ Tourism officers have an app that explains what non-acceptable behaviour looks like
Tourism police are urging holiday makers to respect culture and rules as the holiday season gets under way and New Year’s Eve approaches.
“Most problems facing tourists are related to misunderstandings, lack of knowledge about the country’s culture and rules and linguistic barriers,” said Maj Mousa Mubarak, Dubai tourism police’s acting director.
From January to September this year, 11.58 million tourists visited Dubai and police are preparing for more than 1.5 million during the New Year’s celebrations around Downtown Dubai.
Maj Mubarak said incidents involving tourists were often not serious and included problems with shop staff, hotel workers or taxi drivers.
“Those issues are considered minor and solved on the spot,” he said.
To help with this, the 53 police officers on the tourism force speak at least seven languages, including German, Italian and Chinese, Maj Mubarak said.
Over the past 11 months, Dubai’s tourism police have dealt with 1,623 complaints, including some high-profile cases.
In one that received international media attention this year, Jamie Harron, 27, a tourist from Scotland, was accused of drunkenly touching a businessman in a bar in Barsha Heights.
He was sentenced to three months in jail after being convicted for public indecency and was told he faced further proceedings for drinking alcohol and allegedly swearing at the man he touched.
Mr Harron’s case was later dropped by order of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.
Dubai’s tourism police have dealt with 1,623 complaints, over the past 11 months
In another incident this year, British IT worker Jamil Mukadam, 23, was arrested at immigration and accused of flashing his finger at a motorist from a hire car on a separate visit to Dubai earlier in the year. Updates on the progress of the case are unavailable.
Awareness campaigns include thousands of brochures and booklets being distributed to arriving tourists and visitors.
Emirates and flydubai flights show videos explaining acceptable and non-acceptable behaviour in the country.
It is not acceptable to drink and drive in the UAE, which has a zero-tolerance policy. Drugs are forbidden. Using offensive language or not respecting religion is also not acceptable.
Maj Mubarak encouraged tourists to download the Dubai Police app for Apple and Android, where they can ask questions about the law and acceptable behaviour before they travel to the country.
Another case with which the tourism police dealt this year was of a European woman in her late 40s. She claimed that a bag with money and gold items was stolen from her while she was at Al Hebab desert tourism camp.
Maj Mubarak said investigations showed the woman had provided false information. “The next day, she contacted police and found the bag.”
Of the 1,623 problems this year, 418 were solved after the tourists went home, including lost mobile phones.
A British woman who forgot a Dh100,000 Rolex watch in a Dubai hotel room received special treatment when she had it returned nine months later by officers visiting Britain for a conference.
Travellers are urged to contact Dubai Police to report lost and found items, and Maj Mubarak urged tourists to make accommodation bookings and hire cars and tourist guides through official channels.