When skin is sin
Wed, October 01 2008
The story of a British pair, Vince Acors and Michelle Palmer, facing possible jail terms on charges of having drunken sex on the beach made headlines around the world, but in Dubai, reports are regularly made about hapless foreigners falling foul of local laws that strictly control drinking and ban homosexuality or kissing in public, said a report in Asian newspapers.
Dubai’s foreign population has expanded rapidly in recent years, dwarfing the native population, as the Gulf Arab trade and tourism hub tries to put itself on the international map with a promise of tax-free earnings and year-round sunshine.
But balancing its Muslim identity in what remains a deeply conservative Gulf Arab region with the lifestyles of expatriates who comprise more than 90 per cent of its population is no mean feat.
“Everybody who lives in this country, whether they are citizens or expats, can sense how massively difficult it is to be a minority in your own country and feel such pressure on your habits, your language, your religion,” said Abdel-Khaleq Abdullah, an Emirati political scientist.
Residents from the Indian subcontinent, mainly labourers, almost certainly comprise the largest group in Dubai, but the issue is so sensitive that the government of the United Arab Emirates did not release a breakdown of national origins in the results of its most recent census.
“We are at the point where we need to talk about this frankly,” said Abdullah. “We feel that our identity and all its components are under threat.
Dubai has nurtured an image as a glamorous, cosmopolitan city with ambitious projects, such as the world’s tallest tower, yet its 80 000 nationals feel their values are being eclipsed.
Expatriates live and work on three-year visas, with little prospect of ever attaining citizenship or political say. Many Westerners work in free zones that are akin to economic enclaves and live in newly developed suburbs, rarely mixing with locals.
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