2w ago

London teen jailed for one year in Dubai after 'holiday romance' with 17-year-old girl

www.mylondon.news London teen jailed for one year in Dubai after 'holiday romance'

Marcus Fakana was with his family in the UAE when a "holiday romance blossomed"

Marcus, from Tottenham, North London, had been enjoying a holiday with his parents when he met a fellow Brit at the same hotel. A holiday fling sparked and the pair spent time together until the girl, also from London, flew back to Britain.

In Dubai, if an adult has a sexual relationship with a person under 18, they can be prosecuted for having a sexual relationship with a minor. The relationship would be legal in the UK.

Marcus and his parents were set to fly back shortly after - but their plans were thrown into chaos when police knocked on their hotel room door. The "terrified" teenager was then reportedly hauled in for questioning without any explanation and held at the Al Barsha Police Station, DID said. He spent three days there, during which time he was not allowed to make a phone call or speak with his parents, it is claimed.

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I will never understand why this place is idolized by so many people...
- Or why you'd even vacation there. How tf did they convince people to vacation in a desert?
  
  FOMO. makes it seem exclusive. For whatever reason at least 50% of humans are just wired to want to feel better than everyone else. The actual experience itself doesn't matter as long as they can brag about it knowing that others weren't able to achieve it. Dubai literally has ice shipped in from melting glaciers so that rich people can put it into their drink https://arcticice.ae/
  
  Seriously, it’s like worse Vegas, and I don’t like Vegas at all
  
  I'd like Vegas if there was like an airconditioned pedway to walk around the strip out of the heat and away from the crazies but still be able to observe like a human zoo.
  
  Really? I loved Vegas and can't wait to go back. Full disclosure though I'm not really a gambler and we didn't hit the casinos at all but there's some really cool stuff in that area.
  
  It's way better than Vegas, at least they maintain the place. Vegas reminded me of a junkyard full of crackheads and flashy lights.
  
  Vegas wasn't built by slaves.
  
  Vegas is run by people paid below minimum wage.
  
  Cute. They took the passports of Indians who traveled there to build it.
  
  And employers in Vegas threaten the immigrants with deportation if they complain to any authorities about the work conditions. Stop pretending Vegas is somehow good in any way.
  And yes, Dubai has bad working conditions too.
  
  I never said Vegas is good. The CO2 cost alone makes it a no go for me.
  
  https://hir.harvard.edu/taken-hostage-in-the-uae/
  Btw, I'm using the word "Slave" because the migrant workers are having their passports confiscated to prevent them from going home. That's way worse then threatening to depot migrant workers.
  
  A bit of an unwarranted answer, but many richer Pakistanis go there to buy stuff that isn't easily available back home. Hence, they become cash cows for the ginormous malls over there (seriously. If you think American malls are big, you haven't been to Dubai). It's basically the closest foreign city we have direct flights to, due to our sanctions and all with India. For example, I got my Nintendo 3DS, and later the phone that I'm currently using (Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra), from malls in Dubai.
  
  How much are plane tickets? Flying somewhere to buy things is weird to my brain.
  
  They were undoubtedly cheaper before, but with a low-budget airline like airblue, at least, a round-trip ticket between Lahore and Dubai, for a single adult, economy class, can cost 85,216 PKR or 306.23 USD.
  
  Choosing a more expensive airline like Emirates bumps it up to 138,028 PKR or 496.01 USD.
  
  (Source: Google Flights)
  To be fair, my father at least would often buy stuff while he had another reason to be there (i.e. for business).
  
  Well if you're an American, it might start making more sense to you in a few months when we have fucking 100% tariffs on imported shit (or whatever the fuck he's going to do).
- If you are talking about social media it is likely that they aren't allowed to post something negative about the country or else you can be fined. If you are working as an influncer in Dubai you'll need to obtain an license which regulates what you can post but you basically pay no income taxes
  
  If you are working as an influncer in Dubai you’ll need to obtain an license which regulates what you can post but you basically pay no income taxes
  Because the propaganda you're providing for them would be priceless...
- For the Middle East, it's relatively progressive, from what I understand. That being said, that's a low low bar.
  
  I first thought you wrote “from the Middle East” yeah no. Dubai is Saudi Arabia with better PR.
  
  If you have money
  
  I should amend: if you're there wilingly, it's relatively progressive.
- They have a pretty open love for western money. If you have the funds ($$$$$$$$), you can do pretty much whatever you want.
  But if you aren't extremely wealthy, you get to experience the oppressive true nature of the place.
  Guess which group goes to Dubai and tells people about their experiences.
- Money
- Lotsa influencers get free shit when making positive content about it.
- 💰 💵💰
- Paris is too passé nowadays, you can't be an asshole showoff when the place is full of peasants
- It's a good place to launder money.
- The kind of Europeans who only go to Spain, Amsterdam, and Dubai
  
  Spain, Amsterdam, and Dubai
  What makes those three fit together? I've been to Barcelona and Amsterdam, but wouldn't dream of going to Dubai.
  
  What's with Spain?
  Is the answer prostitution?
- Along with what everyone else said, it's basically Las Vegas without the casinos and the booze, and with a beach.
  If you don't care about politics, gambling or drinking, it's another theme park for adults.

175 comments