Dozens of British Tourists Arrested for Taking Photos in UAE

Dozens of British citizens have been detained in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for taking photos of the carange that’s been unleashed across the Middle East.

At least 35 Britons have been detained in Dubai, with a similar number in the neighboring Gulf city of Abu Dhabi.

It is illegal in the UAE to take or publish photos that could “disturb public security.” This includes Iranian missile strikes. A 60-year-old British tourist is facing two years in jail and up to £40,000 ($53,000) in fines after videos of Iranian missiles were found on his phone, despite immediately deleting the footage when questioned.

Visitors to Dubai who find themselves in close proximity to an Iranian strike receive a message on their phones, which reads: “Photographing or sharing security or critical sites, or reposting unreliable information, may result in legal action and compromise national security and stability.”

Even receiving such a photo or video can lead to people being arrested, as zealous officials will look through people’s phones and arrest anyone with war content on their device.

Police will demand to see the phones of people within the vicinity of an airstrike, and anyone found to have taken photos of the destruction will be arrested.

Dubai’s cybercrime laws have been labeled “draconian” by Radha Stirling, chief executive of Detained in Dubai.

“Most people did not know and were unaware of these cybercrime laws and the vast extent to which they can be applied, especially in a situation like this,” Sitrling tells Sky News.

“There is no way that any of these people knew that it was illegal to send a private message to colleagues saying, ‘here I am, I’ve arrived at the airport. Is it safe for me to walk through, given this explosion’, and then sharing a photo of that explosion with colleagues.”

The Daily Mail reports that a London-based air steward was arrested for taking a photo of an Iranian drone that crash-landed near Dubai airport and sent it to colleagues asking for further information on the situation. After police checked his phone, he was arrested.

Detainees are taken to prisons that are reportedly overcrowded and dirty. One British prisoner has claimed he was beaten up by police in his cell along with other inmates.

Prisoners are denied the right to speak with the British Foreign Office, which is not automatically alerted to the arrests. Only five detainees are currently receiving consular help for taking photos.

Dubai Watch CEO David Haigh describes Dubai as a “corporation” that’s “desperate to keep the facade intact.”

“Once tourists and expats take photos of a missile intercept, or a drone strike, they become the enemy,” Haigh, who himself was once tortured in a Dubai jail, tells the Daily Mail.

“They are arrested, vanished, threatened, charged, forced to report friends, and face years in jail.”

Before the U.S. and Israel began striking Iran, an estimated 240,000 Britons were living in Dubai; many of them attracted by the low taxes and high temperatures.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.