DUBAI BRIEFING March 2005

News this month

Not for kids

The UAE has launched yet another crackdown on the use of child camel-jockeys, after the failure of its previous efforts drew widespread international criticism. Camel racing is a popular and highly competitive sport among Arab locals in Dubai and throughout the UAE, with prize-winning camels changing hands for millions of dollars.

Male jockeys as young as four, mainly from Pakistan and Bangladesh, are popular with some owners thanks to their light weight. But human-rights groups such as Anti-Slavery International say it is dangerous for children to race at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour. They also claim many of the boys are in effect sold into the profession by their impoverished families in Asia. Some of the boys are underfed to keep them light, allowing the camels to race faster. In 2002, the UAE announced a ban on jockeys under the age of 16, but many camel owners have ignored the ruling. The new law will be strictly enforced at ports and airports, as well as at race tracks, ensuring boys under 16 or weighing less than 45kg (99lb) do not race, reported the WAM, the official UAE news agency.

Judge thy neighbour?

An unmarried Asian housemaid will suffer 150 lashes of the whip after an Islamic court in an outlying part of the United Arab Emirates found her guilty of adultery. The unnamed maid was arrested after her UAE national sponsor found out that she was pregnant. The case has served to highlight the stark contrast between Dubai, a glitzy 21st-century metropolis, and its more traditional neighbours.

The sharia court (Islamic law court) in the emirate of Ras al-Khaimah said the sentence would be carried out in two stages, and afterwards the maid will be deported to her unnamed country of origin. While strict Islamic judges will even sentence adulterers to death by stoning, Dubai’s relatively liberal regime turns a blind eye to expatriates who co-habit out of wedlock.

A load of bull

The stockmarket flotation of Dubai’s Arab International Logistics was some 80 times oversubscribed, highlighting bullish investor sentiment on the city’s bourse. Dubai’s stockmarket reached record highs in March, after more than doubling in 2004. Analysts say the bull run is partly based on strong fundamentals: in 2004, corporate profits in Dubai’s banks, property and investment companies rose by an average 50%. But the market may be overheating. Analysts fear a repeat of 1998, when the UAE's stockmarket crashed following a sharp rally. It then took around five years for investor confidence to return. The UAE's central bank has ordered banks to cut lending for stockmarket speculation in a bid to cool the market.

Dubai bowls over London

The International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport’s governing body, is moving to Dubai after creaking under the tax burden in its historic home in Britain. The ICC has been based at Lord’s cricket ground in London since 1909, but will move to Dubai later this year to benefit from the emirate’s tax-free status, not to mention its cricket-mad population of expatriate Indians and Pakistanis. Dubai lobbied hard to persuade the ICC to move here. The organisation may be small in size, but it is very significant in cricket-playing countries such as India, Pakistan and Britain, all of which are important sources of workers, tourists and investors for Dubai.

Bibles bashed

In a move that underlined the limits of Dubai’s religious tolerance, the emirate's police arrested and jailed two American Christians for handing out bibles on the city’s streets. Marie Bush, a 55-year-old member of the First Baptist Church in Waxahachie, Texas, and Vivian Gilmer, a 72-year-old from the First Baptist Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had been distributing bibles and Christian DVDs at Dubai’s popular Global Village marketplace in late February. They were arrested and detained for 12 days before being sent back to America. Both said they were well-treated by Dubai Police. Dubai is a Muslim state, but is home to a large community of Christian churches and Hindu temples, serving the majority expatriate population. However, while worship is accepted, preaching to Muslims in public places is not.

Catch if you can

April 2005

Luciano Pavarotti: the farewell tour

April 7th 2005

At 69, Luciano Pavarotti, a legendary tenor, has decided to hang up his coat-tails with a global swansong: a 40-city farewell tour. He deserves the rest, after selling more than 100m records over a career spanning 40 years. His plan is to retreat from stage operas in 2005 to spend time with his partner, Nicoletta Mantovani, and their daughter. It should be an impressive show. It follows in the footsteps of a concert by Jose Carreras—another of the Three Tenors—who performed in Dubai last month.

Madinat Arena, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai. Tickets: Dhs475 and VIP Dhs975 (including dinner). Call the Talent Brokers on Tel: +971 (0)4 391-3465. See the Madinat Jumeirah website.

More from the Dubai cultural calendar