European Parliament votes to boycott UAE Expo due to human rights issues

Our organisation has consistently highlighted the systematic human rights abuses of the United Arab Emirates for more than a decade. The UAE is a country in which due process and the rule of law are non-existent, torture is routine, forced confessions are the norm, persecution of women, minorities, academics and journalists is standard procedure.

We have actively lobbied governments in Europe, the UK, Australia, Canada, and America to start holding the UAE accountable for its rampant violations and abuse, and we are heartened to see those efforts finally moving Western leaders to act. We welcome the call by the EU Parliament to boycott the World Expo in Dubai, it is truly a victory for the thousands of victims who have suffered life-changing injustice in the UAE. It is particularly significant because the most prevalent abuses in the country involve expat business people and investors; people who contributed their capital, knowledge and skills to the Emirates after being lured by precisely these sorts of promotional events that perpetuate the dangerously false image of the UAE as a safe and stable modern destination; only to find themselves robbed of their money, dispossessed of their businesses, extorted, jailed, or wrongfully listed on Interpol by unscrupulous local partners backed by a biased legal system. This decision by the EU Parliament will send a strong message to companies around the world that the UAE is, in fact, a despotic state where neither their investments nor their very lives and freedom are safe.

European Parliament votes to boycott UAE Expo due to human rights issues