DUBAI-OUS MESSAGE
British Embassy releases video warning tourists not to get drunk in Dubai over Christmas – and some people aren’t impressed
The UK consulate in the UAE have released a video based on Charles Dickens’s Christmas Carol
THE British Embassy in Dubai have been lecturing tourists about not getting to drunk over Christmas – and it hasn’t gone down well with some.
The UK consulate in the UAE have released a video based on Charles Dickens’s Christmas Carol, that shows why Brits planning a trip to the country this festive season should hold back on the booze.
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In the short film, where the characters are made of Lego, viewers follow a British expat who is about to spend his first Christmas in Dubai.
The man, called Edward Beaver-Rouge, is first seen downing drinks back in the UK before chatting up a woman and falling asleep on the street.
The famous ghosts of Christmas past, present and future then warn the young man that he has to change his behaviour before heading to Dubai,
The ghost of Christmas past tells him: “The laws and customs are different in the UK, but even there you took it too far.”
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Later on, the Ghost of Christmas Present tells him: “Everyone celebrates differently, but it doesn't have to end in embarrassment and regret.”
But while many see the short film as a bit of fun, others aren't impressed – with some calling it an insult to tourists to have been jailed for minor misdemeanours in the city.
David Haigh from the pressure group Detained in Dubai told the Mail: “Rather than spending time and energy painting UK visitors as drunken louts, the British Embassy's efforts might be better spent on helping people who have been wrongly accused of criminal behaviour in Dubai.
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“It is completely insulting to Britons who have been jailed – and even tortured - in Dubai, and who have found themselves without adequate support from embassy staff.”
It isn’t the first time the embassy has posted a video like this.
In 2015, they produced a version of the song Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer that talked about the animal getting in trouble for drinking without and alcohol licence.
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Some of the lines included: “Then that sandy Christmas Eve, Rupert drank too much
“And his licence had run out, “To jail now!” the judge did shout
“Then how the reindeer mocked him, He caused a lot of misery
“Rupert the expat reindeer, You’re a liability.”