Was thinking about taking a posting there and inside information on what it would be llike to live there with young kids would be helpful.
Has anyone lived in or visited Abu Dhabi?
- Thread starter OrionSlaveGirl
- Start date
They just had a Grand Prix there. 
Myself, I've never lived in the Middle East. Would love to visit the UAE, though.
Myself, I've never lived in the Middle East. Would love to visit the UAE, though.
I was born and lived there for 20 years. What kind of information are you looking for specifically? Schools?
One thing I will say is that it is an incredibly safe place, low levels of street crime and violence. I could walk out at 3/4 AM and not run into any trouble unlike some other cities of the world.
I don't have any interest in going there. Their drug laws are so strict as to be wildly unreasonable. There have been people who've been bagged at the airport and sentenced to four years in prison just for having a few particles of drug-related substances clinging to their clothing. One tourist was arrested for having - get this - POPPY SEEDS on his clothes, because he ate a fucking ROLL at an airport snack bar (said snack bar was at Heathrow, mind you).
Zero tolerance drug policy
Briton jailed for four years in Dubai
Bad back led to jail torment <-- codeine, a painkiller, is banned in the UAE
TV exec jailed for barely visible cannabis speck
Radio 1 DJ jailed on drug charge
Even if you don't use drugs of any kind, they can get you just for the odd bit of it clinging to you. Even if it's only a microscopic amount. You think OUR drug laws are draconian? The US ain't got nothing on these people.
Zero tolerance drug policy
Briton jailed for four years in Dubai
Bad back led to jail torment <-- codeine, a painkiller, is banned in the UAE
TV exec jailed for barely visible cannabis speck
Radio 1 DJ jailed on drug charge
Even if you don't use drugs of any kind, they can get you just for the odd bit of it clinging to you. Even if it's only a microscopic amount. You think OUR drug laws are draconian? The US ain't got nothing on these people.
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Supreme Admiral
Captain
Does that involves death sentence as well?
No, I think the standard sentence is four years. Probably more for serious traffickers. But as I said, even the smallest, most insignifcant, most MICROSCOPIC amount will get a four year sentence. That's the *minimum*.
Remember, they can get you even if you don't actually use drugs - if a particle of any drug like material happened to attach itself to you as it wafted through the air, or if you stepped on something and it stuck to your shoe, they even count THAT as possession.
Supreme Admiral
Captain
WHAT?!
Why does their drugs laws have to be so strict? Shoes that count as possession? That's wildly insane, if you ask me, there's no way in million years would I ever visit there with strict laws.
What's their beef anyways?! Almost as if they wants to put every of each humans in jail for something that they didn't ever do to commit the crimes as they set the foot there!
Me neither. And I'm the furthest thing from a drug user. I don't even even take cough or cold medicine (mostly because such things make me sicker than the cold would).
I have no idea what crawled up their ass and died down there. And they're supposed to be one of the most liberal countries in the Middle East!
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I don't have any interest in going there. Their drug laws are so strict as to be wildly unreasonable. There have been people who've been bagged at the airport and sentenced to four years in prison just for having a few particles of drug-related substances clinging to their clothing. One tourist was arrested for having - get this - POPPY SEEDS on his clothes, because he ate a fucking ROLL at an airport snack bar (said snack bar was at Heathrow, mind you).
Zero tolerance drug policy
Briton jailed for four years in Dubai
Bad back led to jail torment <-- codeine, a painkiller, is banned in the UAE
TV exec jailed for barely visible cannabis speck
Radio 1 DJ jailed on drug charge
Even if you don't use drugs of any kind, they can get you just for the odd bit of it clinging to you. Even if it's only a microscopic amount. You think OUR drug laws are draconian? The US ain't got nothing on these people.
There are risks attached to travelling anywhere. This is hardly something to get freaked out about, the chances of it happening to you are absurdly slim.
Oh really? They can scan anyone they want to at the airport. The chances of you getting imprisoned for the tiniest amount of stuff clinging to you are no smaller than they are for anyone else. And are you willing to risk an *automatic* sentence of 4 years in prison (good luck getting an English speaking lawyer, or indeed any lawyer, down there; and as those links I posted will show, they won't even let people have a translator to help them read the "confession" they are forced to sign) on the off chance that they won't search you?
People like to bitch about US drug laws and airport security procedures, but compared to this place, we live in a libertarian paradise. Remember, they can and will get you even if you have stuff *stuck to your clothing*. Read those links, it actually happens!
I'm sure there are quite a lot of them, yes. And also a fair amount of them fall victim to the "justice" system, as I've showed. Maybe not ALL, but if even one innocent person gets railroaded like this, then that is by definition too many.
Well, if you've got the courage to stand up to 4 years in a foreign prison, under God knows what kind of filthy conditions, you're a better man than I.
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A lot of people move in and out of the country and these drug related arrests do occur but these scare stories are usually hyperbolic.
I traveled in and out of the country at least a dozen times and I've never even been checked for drugs, not even by custom agents.
But that's just my personal experience.
Perhaps I am being wildly paranoid. Fine. I accept that. I'm just advising people of what I consider to be a grave risk. I saw those links, and I felt obligated to pass the word along.
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Just to be safe OrionSlaveGirl, you should just check with your local UAE embassy or consulate if any prescription drugs you use are banned. But the chances of you getting arrested at the airport for drug abuse are virtually nil, especially if you will be traveling with family
No reason to be worried. Besides how long do you think you'd stay in Abu Dhabi? I ask because if its long term then you probably should know about Ramadan.
A very annoying headache for non-muslims (and muslims too I guess)
When traveling abroad, especially to a place with Islamic Sharia Law then being a little paranoid is good advice.
A friend of mine is there today, as it happens, for the Grand Prix. I'm seeing her later this week for lunch, so I'll get a full report then.
From the TV coverage, I can say the race circuit & hotel looked stunning!
I visited Dubai a few years ago - it struck me as a rapidly modernising, rapidly growing, rapidly building part of the world, clearly aiming to be a large commercial, transportation and tourist hub. It wasn't there yet, and frankly, it's now a little crass/tacky to my eyes, but the UAE certainly has wide-ranging and bold aspirations.
I also know a few people who've lived and worked there for varying periods of time and they've given mixed reports.
I think the bottom line I've personally garned from a combination of personal experience and their stories is that it's a good place to earn some money for a few years, a place that's looking to be more than a desert full of oil, an improving tourist destination, but certainly not yet a deep/broadly-based country.
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