I am a British Citizen and I lived in Dubai for almost two years on and off.

 

I arrived in Dubai on the 28th of September 2009 on the midnight flight from Johannesburg, I was just returning for a three month contract.  When I arrived at passport control I was told that there was a problem and to wait, a policeman came up to me and asked me to follow him, we went to an office and a lady was very nice asked me if she could check my passport, I said that's fine, she then told me that the problem was that my visa was not cancelled from my previous employer and that it had looked as if I had absconded. She then stamped cancelled over the old visa and said that everything was fine and that I could go to get cleared at passport control.

 

I then went back to be told that I could not enter, another policeman came over to me and asked me to follow him, I did as he asked, we went upstairs to a corridor which looked like offices, I was asked to wait in on of the rooms, as I walked in and the door closed I realised that there was no handle on the inside and that it was a holding cell at the airport.

 

There were two other guys in there, one from Russia and the other from India, they both told me that they had been stopped leaving the country because of bounced cheques, they asked me what I was there for and I told them that I did not know.

 

The two guys were taken away after about an hour or so and I was left alone, I called the policeman to ask why I was there, he told me that I did not have to worry that I would be released in about an hour, I sat there until about 5am when they said that I must go with them now.  As I left the room I was put in handcuffs and led to a police van outside the airport, we drove to the next terminal and went inside where there was about 40 people or so just sitting around.

 

After half an hour or so we were lined up, still in handcuffs and taken to the bus, we drove around Dubai dropping people off at different police stations, I was the last person to get off of the bus.  We had arrived at muraqqabat police station, when we went inside the policeman told me that I had to pay some money, that I had owed the bank.

 

I asked him how much and he said that it was about US$8,000 I asked him what it was for and he said for a bounced cheque, I said that it was impossible, then he said that I had missed a credit card payment, the bank deposited the cheque that I had signed and it had bounced.  It turned out that I was eight days late for payment and the bank could not get in touch with me and this is how they decided to deal with me.

 

I told the policeman that he could hold my passport and I would go to the bank and sort it out right away, he told me that they would keep me there until someone paid the full amount, I called my wife to transfer the money ASAP, it was done the very same day and even though proof of payment was sent I was still kept locked up.

 

When I first went in and they searched me and took all of my luggage which they put in another room close to the area that I was in, there was a guy in a cell which is like something out of the wild west with the bars and just a mattress, he was just going absolutely crazy, screaming and shouting, then they took me to the main holding cell, two grey steal doors one with a flap for the police to call you from, or in my case to try and get away from the smoke filled cell, it was the only place that you could breath a bit of air.

 

I counted 176 people and 60 mattresses on the floor,the cells that were on both sides were full of guys that seemed to be on remand for quite a period of time,  The lights were on all night and the noise was just too much, I was locked up for three days and can honestly tell you that it was the three worst days of my life.

 

I finished my contract and went home, to this day the bank is still harassing me telling me that I still owe them money, I will never go back to Dubai again, although it is really a nice place to work and live, the way you are treated for a late payment on a credit card is just beyond belief.

 

I love Dubai, I Do not understand the way they treat people.

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