Telling it like it is on drinking laws in Dubai

Misinterpreting Dubai’s totally confusing laws on drinking alcohol can land expats or tourists in prison.

Last week, yet another visitor to Dubai was incarcerated along with her four-year old daughter for three days due to her having accepted a glass of red wine from a stewardess during her flight from the UK. Recently, another Briton was sent to jail for a month after being caught drinking. Britain’s advisory on Dubai laws doesn’t exactly tell it like it is, and online reports of expat life in the city suggest it’s fine to drink as long as you’re not seen to be drunk in the street. For the 1.5 million Brits who visit the emirate annually, and for expats now feeling slightly nervous, here are the facts about drinking in Dubai.

Laws relating to the use of drugs and alcohol as well as sex are strict as well as strictly adhered to as regards foreigners visiting or working in the Islamic states making up the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is one. Expatriates are allowed to drink alcohol in a number of designated restaurants, hotels and nightclubs, provided they have a permit to do so. As regards non-Muslim expats, drinking alcohol at home is illegal unless a special permit is granted, enabling the purchase of alcoholic beverages and their consumption behind closed doors. Tourists cannot buy a license but are allowed to purchase alcoholic drinks in bars and hotels. However, being drunk in a public place is also against the law, with many visitors falling foul of the regulation when they’re stopped by police for other reasons, including being the victim of a crime.

The emirate also operates a zero tolerance policy on drink driving, as well as on drinking alcohol in public, including on the beach. It’s rumoured plain clothes police operate in popular areas and tourist hot spots in order to catch expats or tourists breaking the law. Even travellers on a stop-over in Dubai or Abu Dhabi’s airports who’ve drunk too much during their flights are at risk of being arrested and detained. Penalties for breaking the anti-alcohol laws are strict and tough, including jail time and heavy fines. Offenders may be locked up and disallowed bail whilst police investigate the offence, and passports have been known to be confiscated for several months, preventing offenders from returning to their home countries. On British expat woman was jailed form sharing a taxi with a Western man carrying an open beer bottle, and a British tourist was imprisoned for a month and fined for being drunk and making an impolite gesture.