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The Dubai Debt Trap

economist.com

251–260 of 356 posts

Re: The Dubai Debt Trap

#251
post #186
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does it compare to Singapore in that aspect? I get the same impression there when people talk about how it all works really well until it doesn't.

Singapore is much more laid back. Usually the worst that will happen with foreigners is they deport them. Apart from drug dealing which carries a death penalty but they only do that when the person is guilty so don't deal drugs there! I thought they were quite long suffering with "Briton arrested for not wearing a facemask in Singapore' because he said he didn't believe in them and wouldn't do it. I think he was jail…

> but they only do that when the person is guilty

Hmm..

Re: The Dubai Debt Trap

#252

https://archive.is/GKvGU

This extension is effective, and by default restricts its access only asks for permissions for supported news sites (instead of having permission to access "All site data" like too many browser extensions): https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-chrome-clean

Here's the Firefox version: https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-firefox-clea...

Re: The Dubai Debt Trap

#253
post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For those who did not bother to read the article, it is about fraud during the financial crisis. I feel sad for Cornelius and wish he is set free. As a resident of Dubai for 30 years, I am always curious to learn things that I may have missed about 'my city', yet this article is misleading in many ways, its few first paragraph where it states that Ryan Cornelius 'thought the authorities had simply made a mistake;' Re…

Yeah, they really buried the admission of fraud pretty deep in the article. They forged invoices and spent 342m on unauthorized riskier projects. Sounds like the sentence may be excessive, but not the conviction.

Because it isn't really relevant if he was guilty or not. Being arrested for a crime, forced to sign a document in a language you don't understand, no access to legal or diplomatic representation, repeatedly denied any hearing or appeal, and charged with a crime retroactively is what is being questioned.

This article is not about someone's innocence, it's about the system and processes, some of which are considered illegal by the UAE's own constitution.

Re: The Dubai Debt Trap

#254
post #25

As a Bay Area native who moved to Abu Dhabi / Dubai roughly four years ago, I have a lot of issues with the way the UAE is portrayed across sites like Hacker News and Reddit. A lot of them are in the comments for this story, focusing on all the negatives of the country, structural racism, human rights abuse, etc and we certainly have a right to raise these things (of which I actively fight against here every day). Th…

Debt is NOT illegal in Islam.

Debt is debt, that’s it, you’re supposed to pay it back.

Not a reason to criminalize a debt the way the UAE does it.

Islam has nothing to do with this.

Other things you mentioned are NOT complex:

Slavery, exploitation, lack of rule of law, lack of human rights, lack of women rights etc

Let’s not give the UAE a pass here.

People go to the UAE to make money. They re not there from some “intellectually difficult to explain” reason. Pure $$$.

Re: The Dubai Debt Trap

#255
post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At what point would you waive the right to a trial-by-jury? I think about that from time to time; if I'm accused of something, what crimes are less sympathetic to my peers than to a judge?

Your peers aren’t sympathetic to crime at all. A 2014 sentencing project report found that supermajorities of people (including both white and Black people, by the way) believe that the criminal justice system is “not harsh enough.”

[deleted]

Re: The Dubai Debt Trap

#256
post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do the Japanese have against drugs?

Maybe they observed what widespread drug use did to China in 19th century, and what it is doing to US now, and are trying to nip that in the bud.

What is Cannabis doing to the USA now? I’m assuming the “don’t get caught with drugs in Japan” is referring to soft drugs. Maybe I’m wrong.

http://fileserver.idpc.net/library/The-history-current-state...

Re: The Dubai Debt Trap

#257
post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After some bad experiences I will never visit an Arab country again. They'll have to do something against the sexism, constant heckling and the bad state of law before I even think about going there. Or they can do whatever they want, they don't have to change just for me. I'm 6 ft 6 and I have a blonde wife who's just a bit smaller. Even though we behaved very polite and dressed like locals it was like we had a big…

I went to Egypt a few months ago and was met with incredibly warm people, with perhaps even an excess of hospitality. Yes, you do get charged extra for being a tourist at the tourist spots. But that's only a small part of the country. That said, I am Indian and was met as an Egyptian most of the time (people would start speaking to me in Arabic 70% of the time), so I had the benefit of fitting in well. The delicious…

I am an Egyptian, thanks for your comment.

The last time I visited Dahab (a very simple yet beautiful place in Sinai, not sure if you know it or not), I saw an Arab man, from his accent it was clear he is not an Egyptian, maybe he is a Saudi or Kuwaiti, he was having a discussion with the Hotel's reception about being charged more just because he is not an Egyptian. This is just something stupid they do to get more money. I am sorry that you had to pay more for the same service.

Re: The Dubai Debt Trap

#258
post #60
post #5

All I ever hear is horror stories about this place: environmental destruction, structural racism, serious abuse of human rights, culturally hyper conservative, corrupt legal system, plus it's absurdly hot. I can't believe anyone would voluntarily go there, seems like hell on earth.

I say this as somebody who lived in one of those Middle Eastern countries for a good period of my life. I'm not a white person and at that time I didn't have a US/European passport, so I didn't lead an extra privalaged life there. Here's what you can hear about the USA. 1)Endless suburban sprawl, resulting in massive environmental destruction. Illegal immigrants heavily involved in the construction industry, leading…

Qatar is not Dubai, but when was the last time you heard of 6,500 migrant workers dying building a group of soccer stadiums/olympic village/large public works in the USA? That is to say, that region's rep comes from a bit more than stereotypes or a filtering bubble.

Re: The Dubai Debt Trap

#259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are afraid of the lack of rule of law, there are not many countries we need to avoid. Japan has a 99.995% of inculpation after their police interview. And that has to do with the fact that their interview can lawfully last for 22 days, renewable. You can’t even avoid USA: 95% of jailmates are there upon self-admission of guilt without external proof, ie. without objective proof besides self-incrimination.

Man people really see some blog post about Japanese law by a person who doesn’t speak the language and think it’s some 1984 style country. In all honesty you can basically apologize out of a lot of crimes and police generally don’t bother with anything else unless there’s video evidence, they catch you in the act, or you’re a high profile person involved in a high profile act. Just never get caught with drugs in your…

Too bad they don't teach the crying technique before you visit! The young man I'm familiar with was locked up in holding (not sent to prison) for six months then put on a plane to his home country and told never to come back. That was a REALLY expensive joint.

Re: The Dubai Debt Trap

#260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do the Japanese have against drugs?

Japanese drug prosecution is about as strict as American child porn prosecution, with the same para-judicial stigma about possession of it. If you are caught with drugs in Japan, you are going to be doing hard time, and even when you get out of jail people will not want to associate with you. In the rare case where the police prosecute you without evidence, you're still going to wind up spending months in a holding c…

>Japan is rather lax about CSAM possession

Quite the opposite, in fact. CSAM is a pillar of the manga industry. Enjo kosai (compensated dating) is a cultural norm.

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