Brit detained in Dubai over WhatsApp message

A British human resources manager has been held in Dubai after her Ukrainian flatmate lodged a police complaint over a “rude” WhatsApp message sent over a petty household dispute arising from her flatmate’s intolerance to her use of the dining table to work from during lockdowns.

The woman, a professional from south west England in her early thirties, had lived trouble free in Dubai since 2018, but had decided to return home permanently to be close to her family and start a new job. After shipping all of her belongings and securing herself a seat on one of the limited flights home, she was pulled aside by airport authorities and told she could not leave, that there was a police case against her. After being shuffled between police stations, she discovered that her flatmate had quite unbelievably, lodged a police complaint against her.

“I would never have expected a European to take advantage of the UAE’s strict laws. We shared a flat and we were all casual with one another. I’ve never been in trouble in my life, and I’m shocked that I’ve been criminalised over a private WhatsApp exchange with someone whom I lived with. What’s worse, the messages were from months ago and only now, when I’ve shipped all of my belongings, booked a flight and when my visa is about to expire, do I even find out about this case. I tried to plead with her to drop the case, but she doesn’t seem to care about the impact this is having”, she told Detained in Dubai in a phone call today.